Content area
Full Text
Abstract
Theory and criticism arising from contemporary feminist art discourse can be a significant influence in the development of a feminist art therapy. The dominant cultural paradigm of modernity, with its emphasis on originality and timelessness, and its erasure of gender, has influenced contemporary art therapy practice. This paradigm has influenced our perceptions of ourselves as artists as well as our clients' self-perceptions. Our beliefs about art are as influential as our beliefs about psychotherapy, and will affect our approach to the practice of feminist art psychotherapy.
The ideas in this paper were first presented at the 1996 American Art Therapy Association conference in Philadelphia, they were accompanied by slides of artists' work. Although not often directly referred to, their work was an important presence, and served to extend, as well as query, my words. I showed their work because of my concern that we often fail to look at art in a deliberate way. Art therapy is a hybrid profession, the progeny of art and psychotherapy, and we practitioners should know as much as we can about both fields. We must especially bring the world of art into our practice, since, without it, the clinical practice is in danger of becoming inauthentic.
As my time in this hybrid profession lengthens, I am increasingly concerned lest art therapists fail to remain connected to their art, to sustain their development as artists, and to maintain their passion. It is vital that we continue to practice the quiet language that art speaks. The practice of looking at pictures arises from art training, and has been a valuable means of learning. We must search out ideas and bodies of knowledge being developed in the related fields of art history, contemporary art practice, and feminist art criticism, where people are attending to the making of art.
Like art, feminism is a practice situated culturally and historically, and, therefore, its shape (like the shape of art) varies. To illustrate, consider your response elicited by the use of the term "feminism." This observation can lead to awareness of any predisposition toward constructing particular types of meaning. We may glimpse part of our history re-constructed through our response. As an idea, a theory, an evolving epistemology, feminism elicits complex, involved...