Tatiana Zarmati

Academic Writing Sample

Excerpt of Senior Project Essay on Art Therapy

Frida Kahlo in Art Therapy

After a bus accident that left her body crippled, countless corrective surgeries, Polio as a

child, and trauma from a series of miscarriages, it is a wonder how Frida Kahlo could be one of

the most venerated artists of our time. Kahlo’s pain is palpable in many of her paintings, and

oftentimes, witnessing these paintings can bring up deep rooted emotions from within the

observer. This experience has been known to help people face and come to terms with trauma

they may have endured during their lives. In this sense, Kahlo serves as art therapy when

individuals look at her paintings and connect with the feelings evoked within themselves.

Therapists have been known to use the revered artist’s paintings during art therapy treatments,

and doctors have used her work to help them empathize with their patient’s pain (Antelo, 2013).

Kahlo’s artistic legacy has been the impetus for many art therapy projects, and there

exists a solidarity and inspiration among those who have been guided by her influence. Camila

Fontenele de Miranda is one of such artists inspired by Kahlo to create her own art therapy

project. Miranda elucidates, “Frida taught me and inspired me to seek my sense of self in this

world. I used to spend time reading a lot about her life and work, until the moment I plucked up

the courage to make something inspired by her” (Fulleylove, 2019). Miranda had felt the same

push that others experienced to create in Kahlo’s honor.

In her project, Everyone Can Be Frida, Miranda transformed six thousand strangers into

their own version of Frida Kahlo so they could embody her strength and truly face themselves.

The artist stated, “In my project Everyone Can Be Frida, I try to provoke every possibility by

mixing something with other things that are unusual or maybe hidden within ourselves.

Therefore, any feeling felt by my subjects is valid, because in the end I'm just a part of the

process – I'm helping the person being photographed to face themselves” (Fulleylove, 2019).
Miranda utilizes Kahlo's influence to assist others in embracing all of themselves, and in finding

their own true power. The act of emulating the famous artist in dress and spirit allowed

participants to find that they too possessed her inner strength.

Similarly inspired by Kahlo, the artist Juilio Salgado is an undocumented, queer “artivist”

whos art has been used across the United States to call attention to issues of immigration and

the Dream Act (Fulleylove, 2019). Salgado was artistically inspired by Kahlo’s paintings from an

early age.

“...I remember seeing her Las Dos Fridas piece and totally changing my life. I didn't fully

understand the depth of Frida's work at that time, but something about that piece moved me to

pursue a creative path in my life...I think it was the way that she was able to translate pain and

to just put it out in the world as a form of therapy. I definitely use art as therapy, especially given

the times that we are living in. When I create a piece about being undocumented or queer after

seeing the news, I just put this anger and pain in my work and just let it go. It's so therapeutic”

(Fulleylove, 2019). Salgado was encouraged by Frida’s artistic wake to create his own art

therapy. His experience defines the healing art process that people encounter when viewing

Kahlo’s artwork. Something inside of him connected with Kahlo’s raw emotions, and the spark

was powerful enough to cause him to create his own cathartic and revolutionary art.

Salgado made an art collection entitled, “Because Frida Told Me So”, which is an

assemblage of paintings depicting his honest attitudes towards immigration and sexuality. His

art challenges the status quo and questions societal norms. Fascinated by the number of artists

that akin to Salgado, followed the call to embark on creative therapy projects born of Kahlo’s

paintings, I found that Kahlo had a therapeutic influence on the collective psyche. Kahlo serves

as a bridge that assists in acceptance of the shadow aspects of the self, and forces people to

look at these elements—when so often the societal impetus is to pretend that these darker

shades of life do not exist. In this way, Kahlo is arguably one of the initial trailblazers for the art

therapy movement, which emerged in the Western hemisphere in the twentieth century.
 The Emergence of Art Therapy in the West

In beginning my own art therapy project, it was essential to research the background of

the field of art therapy and understand where the movement began. In the West, art used in

mental health settings began in the mid-twentieth century. Across the board, Edith Kramer is

mentioned as the pioneer of the art therapy we are familiar with today.

“Art as a form of therapy has arisen to fill the void depleted by the current nature of

contemporary work in tandem with the demise of the participatory folk art tradition and the rise

of spectator recreation”, observes Kramer (Allen, 1995). Kramer’s perspective illuminates how

the current state of modernity leads to work that is unfulfilling, with less importance placed on

art-making and connection to inner worlds, and leisure time that in large involves being a

spectator of some kind—especially with the popularity of television. Kramer states that this

lifestyle choice creates a void in the human psyche, and a need for people to reconnect to

themselves and a sense of fulfillment.

Henry Shaeffer-Simmern was another prominent therapist who began creative therapy

treatment programs in 1948 with various demographics, including delinquents and the

developmentally disabled (Abrahamson, The Sociological Implications). He noted that,

“authentic artistic expression will unfold in a natural progression in anyone given the opportunity

to make art” (Abrahamson, The Sociological Implications). His methods suggested that artistic

expression would develop organically over time, without having to force patients to understand

concepts or participate in exercises. Shaeffer-Simmern conveyed through his work that anyone,

regardless of artistic talent, could benefit from and participate in art therapy.

His students found that as they continued to do art therapy and develop their creativity,

they became sensitized to the issues of city life and subsequently became less tolerant of these

concerns. He saw creative engagement as a way for people to find wholeness and deal with

issues larger than their own personal experience, creating a catalyst for social change.
 As another originator in the field, Edward Adamson first brought art therapy to hospitals

by opening an art studio in a British psychiatric ward in 1946 (Adamson, 1991). He noted that

his patients found his art studio as a “haven of peace and sanity”, and that they were able to

give expression to their inner worlds which therapists would observe with compassion

(Adamson, 1991). This is significant of the start of validating personal expression as a tool for

mental health in a clinical setting.

With the growth of art therapy came the art teacher Florence Cane and her 1951 book

The Artist in Each of Us. Cane was known as one of the first artists in the West to teach her

students about tuning into the experience of the body for healing, and the effect of art on the

mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual whole of the human being (Allen, 1995). Her sister,

Margaret Naumburg, was also a prominent art therapist who worked with people suffering from

mental illness (Allen, 1995). An emergence of artists, educators, therapists and clinicians in this

field can be seen around the mid-twentieth century in the West, paving the way for the current

practitioners and methods in art therapy we see today.

Modern Art Therapy

Therapists currently working in the field of art therapy practice a wide variety of

techniques. One notion that is widely agreed upon is that artistic expression comes in many

forms, and that therapists should allow their clients to explore many modalities (Allen, 1995).

According to Vantage Point Recovery Center, an organization that uses art therapy to treat

people with varying addictions, “Art therapy could include painting and expressing feelings

through color and form, drawing and writing in an art journal, creating a collage through images

that the patient identifies with, painting or drawing a dream or working on a group art project”

(Vantage Point Recovery, 2019). Art therapy can be explored through whichever modality works

best for the client, and they are encouraged to explore many different mediums to find which

ones they resonate with most.

 “People that create art are making lots of decisions about the images they produce, the

colors they choose and what they want to communicate. It is a process that helps you become

very self-aware and focused in a way that can give you a sense of purpose and confidence”,

states Vantage Point Recovery Center (Vantage Point Recovery, 2019). In this way, art-making

can help clients cultivate a sense of autonomy in their own lives by having control of which type

of art they choose to work with, how it looks and even which colors they use. In this way, a

sense of agency can be reclaimed in a client’s life.

Pat Allen is a prominent figure in the modern field of art therapy, and accredits much of

her influence to the aforementioned founders of this practice. In her book, Art is a Way of

Knowing, she states, “For twenty years I have kept a record of my inner life in images, paintings,

drawings and words. I did this, I think, because I felt in a way that I didn’t exist. My existence

was marginal, uncompelling, because my feelings, necessary for a sense of meaning, were

missing. Art making is my way of bringing soul back into my life. Soul is the place where the

messiness of life is tolerated, where feelings animate the narration of life, where story exists. Art

is my way of knowing who I am” (Allen,1995). Allen’s description of her relationship to art can

assist one in understanding their own. She puts words to the feeling many have felt—that they

don’t fully know they exist until they sit down to do art. She reminds us that art facilitates a

spiritual and emotional connection with one's self and is a healing process guided by the

subconscious mind.

The collective voice of art therapists outline how this expressive practice gives people a

way to make their emotions visible so that they can become more aware of themselves.

Confusing feelings and complex thoughts can be seen in one image to make sense of a chaotic

inner world. To make emotions visible through a modality of choice can help one identify

behavior patterns and thoughts that are holding them back in their life (Vantage Point Recovery,

2019).
 In the field of art therapy, it has been recognized that patients becoming involved and

distracted by art-making can act as a tool for mindfulness and aid in the reduction of stressful

thoughts (Vantage Point Recovery, 2019). It can become a practice of present-moment

awareness where patients can connect with their feelings and escape intrusive and repetitive

thought patterns. Expressive arts are credited with helping people regulate emotional states and

coming back to a sense of balance by practicing new responses to triggering feelings.

Expressive Art Practices

A broad inventory of exercises are used to help clients get in touch with their own

feelings, boundaries, and better understand interpersonal relationships. From guided

meditations, to deciphering archetypal images in scribble art, to pictures that express personal

autonomy, the spectrum of practices is diverse. Carolyn Mehlomakulu shares a specific exercise

using the metaphor of a house with a fence to depict personal boundaries. The manner in which

one draws the fence, how high the fence is, if there are trees by the house, and which people

are allowed inside the house can help an individual understand their relationship to boundaries

and safety (Mehlomakulu, 2016). This serves as an example of how art therapy can use

metaphors to give patients insights into their own psyche.

Research on art therapy suggests that the subconscious mind expresses itself through

images, symbols and metaphors which are all important aspects in art-making (Vantage Point

Recovery, 2019). Trained art therapists can guide their patients in their own creative

explorations, leading to unlocking unwanted behavioral patterns. Art therapists convey that talk

therapy can be supplemented with creative expression, which allows patients to tap into their

subconscious minds and feelings, when words may be hard to find.

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