Existential Question

I presented my most recent art work a few days ago to my year group on the art psychotherapy course. Not an easy task when I have felt creatively blocked over the past 6 months. I eventually sat down to make some art about a month ago, thinking ironically about being uninspired. Over the summer I felt a sense of blankness, although there was also an undercurrent of things that I needed to process. I had several conversations about identity in therapy, and being unsure of my own changing identity on this course. Not feeling solid. Of course I know that identity is something that changes throughout a lifetime, this didn’t stop me feeling afraid however, and unsettled by my own sense of uncertainty. I started by recording myself speaking, then writing some of the words into a new sketchbook and adding paint and collage. I was aware of wanting to strip back my work- rather than using my usual bright colours that can sometimes be overkill. I then used the art in a film, overlaying images of water to suggest fluidity and change. In art therapy water is often seen as symbolic of the unconscious. I also filmed the view of Stratford from our new flat, the trains, cars and lights of the city in the distance. The suggestion of journeys and change.