Symbolism In Art Therapy

Dr. D and I discussed the sketches I did the other day about life as a multiple. We also discussed huge differences  in sketches about my mother and the ones about my sister. The ones with my mother are chaotic and usually filled from one edge of the paper to the other. There appears to be a lot of random images and usually the drawing shows high anxiety as well as grief and fear. The sketches I do about my sister usually appear empty which speaks rather loudly in itself. The art pieces about her are usually dead center of the page and rather simple. The one I did the other day shows me holding onto her arm as we stand together tangled in her shackles. The image is proportionate and has recognizable humans which is in stark contrast to pieces concentrating on mother issues. The one directly next to it is typical of mother issues with it’s elongated figures, exaggerated  features exaggerated and closed eyes. Eyes are important in my pieces. They are usually quite large or closed with very little in between. It’s yet another extreme that shows up regularly in my work.

Dr. D asked why I thought there are such huge differences between work on mother issues and work on sister issues.  I told him that I handle mother issues much better than issues with my sister. Thought what I feel for my sister is anything but simple those emotions are easier to identify than what I feel for my mother. I also think since I see my sister as very dead, images of her come across as empty and overly simple.

Some of the other sketches we discussed are below.

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The first image shown here has a major difference in it, something I’ve not seen before in my work. I’ve got body parts that are not at all attached to a body. I think what concerns me most about this piece is how few flowers there are in it. Not only does everything mesh but the main symbol for emotion I use is barely present.  I’ve got one large flower and three “didn’t even try” lightly sketched flowers kind of hanging out to the side. The significance of this is discussed later in the entry. The second piece shown is a typical illustration of exaggerated features in a twisted existence.

Ya know, I never think about this type of stuff until after I’ve finished the piece. I don’t think too much at all when sketching. I just do my thing and look at it later. Funny how consistent I am with what symbol is placed where, where people are placed and what type of  physical form a body has. Houses are usually in trees and are hardly ever in proper proportion to the image it’s next to. Trees are often in my work as are single stem flowers which represent extremely overwhelming emotion which leads to shutting down.

I’ve come to know the more flowers in the piece the more open I am to dealing with the issue. It’s almost as if  a multitude of flowers symbolizes that I’m still open and still able to see options and a way out. The fewer the flowers seems to indicate that I’m shutting down and I feel trapped. I’m not sure what the large flowers mean but I know to worry when there are few or no flowers at all in my art therapy pieces.

It think it’s important to understand my symbolism and color usage (or lack thereof) so that when huge changes in my work come up I can note it and attempt to see what’s going on.  Changes in my symbols can clue me into my state of mind and help me better understand why I’m where I’m at. Right now I think I’m more closed than open as suggested in the piece above called “Dismembered.”

Here’s what I’m up to when I’m not sketching or painting. Go check out the entry on my art blog called Clay work . Despite the fact that I’ve jacked up several pieces royally I’m still having fun. Me, the girl who HATES to get her hands dirty is actually having a total ball with messy clay. Whodathunk?

Austin