Beyond the Mask
The walk-a-thon, Walk Now for Austism Chicago 2007 was a great success. Healing Thresholds held a booth inside Soldier Field Stadium for individuals to get on line and to cheeck out the website and to create art. Art therapist worked with the children through the creative art process of mask making.
Art therapy is an established mental health profession that uses the process of making art to improve the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of individuals. Art therapists believe that the creative process of artistic self-expression helps individuals to resolve problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, and increase self-esteem.
While growing up, we all have many obstacles and challenges to overcome. We can either take on these challenges and try to grow from them, or allow the challenges to control us. These obstacles and challenges can influence who we are and who we will become. Art therapy is a way of understanding and facing the conflicts that occur in our lives.
The expression of art begin early in a child’s life as a reaction to sensory experiences. As the child’s senses mature, his/her reationship to the environment also matures. In additon, as a child grows and learns s/he begins to understand him/herself in relation to the environment. The milestones in a child’s life relate to the physical emotional, and cognitive perspective of development. As a child identifies his/her own experiences and the environment, mental growth begins. A young child begins to express him/herself in constructive forms of art that are self-expressions of his/her feelings, emotions and thoughts. Through development, a child knowledge gained takes on a visual form. By creating symbols a child can take something they have captured and tranform it to something that has meaning. Art therapist use the abstraction of art and the multisensorial experience of art to help a individual understand his/her environment and overcome or cope with the challenges in life.
We all wear masks and may wear several in the same day. As mask makers, we wear masks that are both visual and invisible. They can hide, protect or allow us to express ourselves. The face is powerful and holds the senses of sight, sound, smell, and taste. In addition, our emotions can be seen mostly through facial expression.
Often masks are used in rituals, religion, culture and uniforms. Some cultures believe masks to be magical. They may symbolized or represent an animal or spiritual meaning. Overall, masks are a powerful form of art that has been around for thousands of years.
In art therapy the process of creating and wearing masks can help an individual to explore the self. A mask can serve as a container to be seen or unseen. By exploring different masks allows an individual to transform from the present state to a new place.
These experiences may enable an individual to be free to express themselves or perhaps provide an emotional distance. Masks can connect the non verbal to a visual form.
