Invoking Inner Vision: The application of an art therapeutic method that builds upon projective processes at the Csontváry Fine Arts Studio

 

 

 

Introduction:

 

The Csontváry Fine Arts Studio operates in the Pécs Foster Home. I would like to present an art education and drawing therapy method applied in this child-care center.

Inherent expressiveness is an inborn skill, which through the help of ancestral images provides the opportunity for formulating our personal relationship with the world itself. This skill emerges in early childhood and kindergarten years, as a result of social triggering.

Its outstanding results in human culture have been maintained in folk art, tribal art and ancient arts. Unfortunately, as a result of modern mass culture and inappropriate public educational practice, this skill gradually disappears from child imaging. However as a fortune, the ability itself is never wiped out, it is only refrained in the deep of the soul, in the world of the unconscious.

In my presentation I introduce an art educational and drawing therapy method, which is able to recall inherent expressiveness, our inner vision. The method may successfully be applied on school-year children, teenagers and even adults. This way they shall again be capable of utilizing their internal visions, which projects the internal contents of the unconscious soul. With the help of ancestral images they will be able to formulate and recognize their internal worlds. The method is built on an ancient East-Asian Taoist drawing educational procedure. With the help of internal vision thus developed, the hidden world of the personality is formulated first, in the form of "personal myths", making it applicable for therapeutic aims. These unique drawing formulas will be analyzed in the drawings of emotionally injured children and youngsters in foster-homes.

 

The Presentation:

 

Our creative community, made up of children and youngsters living in Pécs city foster-homes was established in 1987 under the name Csontváry Fine Arts Studio. Through the past 15 years it has developed into a part of intellectual value for the city of Pécs. We represent a special world of human existence formulated with the noble tools of art: the self-expressional sub-culture and unique emotional world of children and young people without a healthy family background, growing up in community homes. In their works the problems and conflicts of modern life are developed, softened into art through the filter of the child intellect. It is a sincere, candid world; however, with the help of its self-expression tools, baring basic strength it addresses the deepest core of our souls.

These children and young people are selected from the periphery of society, from families struggling with social problems. They are the victims of serious family dramas and conflicts since early childhood. Often their lives are accompanied by vicissitudes, lack of love, emotional dismal, low cultural level and an aggressive atmosphere. The sequence of failures, feeling of inferiority is present in their everyday lives. In the school competition and performance oriented atmosphere they suffer educational difficulties at all times, since due to emotional loads caused by traumas, their efficiency is lower than of those living in normal families. However, the Csontváry Fine Arts Studio undertakes the development and improvement of skills hidden in them. It applies a unique drawing therapy method, which is capable of recalling inner anxiety caused by emotional traumas, for their symbolic formulation with the use of the noble tools of fine art. Thus of their inner emotional problems and difficulties, they are able to create artistic value. This develops such a basic skill in them, which may be later used in any areas of their lives, and help them through many difficulties.

The method is based on an ancient, more than thousand years old East-Asian Taoist drawing educational method.

A characteristic of human form vision is, that of a visualized object or image, drawing, etc., our impression will be that it is a unique whole. However objects for us are mostly rich in detail, at first sight it is not the detail that strikes us, but the whole object, the overall nature of the form. Meaning, that we do not perceive the form by putting it together from parts into a whole, but we make an impression of the whole without consciously analyzing the details and putting them together. It is only after lengthy contemplation of an object or visual image, when we become absorbed into the observation of details. In children, this unique, overall nature of form vision is more expressed compared to that of adults. Children seem to be impressed by the whole of the image, - in the first place emotional - instead of perceiving the place of details in the whole, and they mainly record an unbroken impression of the whole in their drawings.

These form vision principles are absolutely left out of consideration in the naturalist approach type, wide-spread drawing practice solely built on external vision, making its students create the whole form gradually by the perfect tone development of details. The younger the child, the more they struggle with the task, since they are impressed by the overall nature, the character of the whole, not by the details. In portrayal too many details disturb their grasping of the whole. Such inappropriate drawing education only creates anxiety and inhibitions in children, due to which they "forget" to draw in their adult years.

Traditional European portrayal methods are characterized by the spatial imaging of forms, using tones, working them out up to the smallest details. On the other hand, the classic Far-Eastern, mainly Chinese and Japanese ink painting is characterized by the losing of details, the beautiful grasping of typical features, characters in forms. The first picture (1.) is a classic Chinese ink painting, depicting a bamboo. Kuo Hszi a great Taoist painter taught in the 11th century: "Who learns the painting of the bamboo, should take a bamboo, and observe its shadow on the wall on a moon-lit night, because this is how he sees the real form of the bamboo." With the help of modern technology I created a similar situation. I projected the shadows of dry plant forms on an overhead projector (thistle, poppy, grass types, ears, etc.). The plants were organized in a light composition on the shadow image, at first easier, then later in more complex forms. The appearing shadow is plane, made up of fine lines and shadows. Although internal details are invisible on the forms, their enlarged silhouettes expressly show the typical character of each plant (picture 2.). This does not only resemble the image situation formulated in Chinese ink painting portrayal methods, but it also suits the previously described form vision of children, based on the "unique whole" impression. Through this method they are not paralyzed in portrayal by overabundant details, and through the emphasizing of form characteristics the grasping of typical features will also be facilitated for them, thus dissolving their anxieties and inner inhibitions.

These fine lined natural forms are outstandingly beautiful, but due to their small sizes, in our everyday lives we do not perceive them, we just pass by them. However, through this method – multiply enlarged by their shadows – they offer a wonderful aesthetic experience. This is what my fosters draw, mainly concentrating on the character and not on exact proportions creating anxiety, since in case of shadows precise proportions are of no significance.

 

 

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Picture 1. – "Bamboo woods" (Classic Chinese ink painting)

 

 

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Picture 2. – "Shadow Image of Plant Forms" (with the help of over-head projector)

 

Children and teenagers create the images with pen, paintbrush, black or colour ink, walnut tree steep or colour pencils. Yes, they are allowed to apply colours. Naturally, as shadows are dark – almost any colours may be imaged in the forms (pictures 3. and 4.). With this method children are freed of their inhibitions in both forming and use of colours, they freely apply their individual personalities, original tastes into their drawings. On the sheet the area surrounding the form is left plain, on the paper white, similarly to Chinese artists. Thus the white background, as space – in a puritan way – becomes a component of the picture; it is filled with aesthetic values. Just as looking in, through a window, mysterious objects await us, which at first sight are lost in the enigmatical white of the background. This way of expression puts their internal unconscious world into action stronger, than the "spoon-fed" European imaging, which is mainly aimed at activating our rational personalities, by precisely describing and depicting the background for us. Consequently in this type of imaging, the appearing forms simultaneously and automatically develop space around themselves, also giving it a meaning.

 

 

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Picture 3. – "Shadow Study" ink painting of 8 year old boy

 

 

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Picture 4. – "Shadow Study" colour pencil drawing of 14 year old girl

 

Later on I tried to assemble and project more and more fantastic shadow images of natural forms. For this I did not only apply the poppy or cornflower and other dry plants, I also used vine-roots, bird feathers, sea-shells, etc. I pressed the flight equipments of seeds and fruits between slide-frames, and projected those (picture 5.). At many times in montage form, but still I organized different shadow images in an organic way, thus creating mysterious forms. Shadow images considerably leaped away from reality, but for this reason they resembled many different things at the same time. In the relatively homogeneous surface of shadows, anything can be imagined, anything may be depicted. This method freed children, it launched brainstorming, and associations in them; still the present shadow image assured them a fix, starting point (picture 6.).

 

 

 

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Picture 5. – "The Flight Equipment of the Elm-tree Seed"

 

 

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Picture 6. – "Dragon Boy is Born" ink painting of 11 year old boy

 

I note here, that the Rorschach-test, considered a classic in psychological diagnostics is also based on similar theories. In this case, mainly the analogue operation of thought and imagination is emphasized. The shadow, implying several meanings at the same time, opens the conscious, brings something to one’s mind, based on the theory of similarity. This recognition may also recall present emotional contents from the unconscious.

Later on, when the imaging of fantastic, mysterious beings is well done by children, they go on drawing them just "by heart". I then do not apply any shadow images, models (pictures 7.-10.). In these pictures fantastic beings, surrealistic, fairy-tale like worlds appear. It is also a characteristic of this approach that it often joins elements, which in real do not fit together, but they are depicted as an organic whole. These unique beings are symbols at the same time. Through them strong feelings are expressed, experiences are condensed in them, and these experiences may already be unconscious as well. After all, internal tension, anxiety is projected on the visual symbols created by the imagination of the teenager, condensing past traumas and experiences. Thus unconscious problems may often appear or be projected unwillingly. In case of adults, not only tensing anxieties are freed this way, but also, the problems appearing in their drawings are analyzable intellectually.

To these pictures often brief stories, tales, personal "myths" told by the artist are coupled. Many times they verbally name their symbolic beings. Personal stories may emerge with symbolic value out of these, modelling their worlds, and their relationship to the world.

 

 

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Picture 7. – "Humiliation" drawing of 15 year old boy

 

These unique image formulations will be analyzed in the drawings of emotionally injured foster teenagers. Due to limitations of length I may only flash a few works of my rich collection.

 

 

The Point of Drawing Analysis:

 

-          As a starting point, and system of comparison I use the ancestral image (archetype). The still operating Marxist rooted sign-scientific school rejects the existence of these, and it regards all symbols accidental, optional, decided by communal agreement (convention). Communal agreement is a conscious process, such as the work of a law-maker in parliament. On the other hand in case of ancestral symbols there has never been any communal agreement. Western science – mainly psychology – has also proven statistically, that ancestral images exist as the basis of human culture. Referring here, for example to the studies of the American Rhoda-Kellogg. Based on these I apply the symbol analyses of C. G. Jung, the Rorschach-test, the Koch type Tree-test and Rhoda-Kellogg. I shall also apply the results of culture anthropological studies carried out between different archaic communities, the symbol analyses of folk-art, and the symbol definitions of different symbol collections, mythological symbols. Although, symbols have a joint root deep in the human psyche, naturally the symbol appearing on a given work gets a unique meaning, influenced by the personality and the given culture.

-          I regard the stories of teenagers, told about their drawings extremely important. In this case visual information is really supplemented and specified by verbal information.

-          The subsequent creation of drawings is also extremely important for the artist, together with those patterns which appear in several drawings, since these are the ones that carry the basic emotional problems. It is also of importance, what changes these patterns go through on subsequent images, since this is how emotional processes are revealed.

-          Also misinterpretation is prevented, if the personality, life circumstances, previous life information of children are compared with the drawing during analysis. Family environment, cultural environment now and before may also be of importance, previous educational strategies applied on the child, the type of visual training in kindergarten and school is also important. The intelligence and field of interest also has to be taken into account. The message of symbols apparent in the drawings is better understood if we gain more supplementary data of the artist.

 

The Drawings and What's Within:

 

At first, let's look at a wonderful emblem, the tree of life symbol (picture 8. – by Béla (12 year old boy). The tree of life or the ancient tree of life symbol may be found in both tribal art and folk-art. It depicts the basic struggles of human life. The human is born into a material world, but through its life it endeavours a higher, intellectual world.

On the drawing the tree of life, symbolizing the life-path of the human, emerges from a small mound, representing the mother womb. The tree of life leads upward, into the clouds, into the world of sunshine. On the path of the tree of life, miniature, ant-like beings struggle their ways up to the skies in groups.

All this is unconsciously expressed in the drawing of the child, showing that its whole being is upward endeavour, development shows toward recognition of knowledge. However, - according to the artist – a python has coiled up on the tree (also well visible on the image), obstructing the way of the upward struggler. The ants, that are not clever enough cannot break through the obstacles, they are eaten up by the snake. It is exactly this natural upward movement and will to know, that is often suppressed in our children with false, inhuman, unlively Prussian education, which does not teach the searching and nursing of real values, but unfortunately teaches the serving of the requirements in the consumer society. This effect extremely strikes disadvantaged foster-children who have experienced many emotional traumas. The teenage boy was taken to the foster-home from a family,

 

 

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Picture 8. – "Tree of Life" ink painting by Béla (12 year old boy)

 

where all, except the artist were mentally disabled. Thus at home he was unable to receive the intellectuality he instinctively searched for. In the school at the housing estate they did not pay much attention to him either, so he failed many subjects before getting to the foster-home. The drawing was created not much later, representing this life circumstance. By the end of the year, he improved in all subjects. Picture 8. was created as a result of this period.

 

 

 

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Picture 9. – "In-between Prison-walls" by István (13 year old boy)

 

The building of the foster-home is not a prison, its gates are open, children may leave the building area, and what's more it does not have an internal school, the pupils attend the schools in the area. However, in an emotional sense it is a locked up, unique world. It tries to imitate real life and the family; however, children still live in this alienated situation distant from a healthy, real life as necessity. This unique state is expressed in the drawing of a 13 year old boy child (picture 9.). Its artist gave the title "In-between Prison-walls". Two emotional reactions to living in this closed world are depicted in the picture with persuasive power of expression. On the male like side (viewed on the left) anxiety in the closed world is revealed in the form of aggression. Aggression is implied by the teeth in open mouths and the emphasis of tooth shapes around the bodies. On the other, female type side (viewed on the right) we may perceive another type of emotional reaction to suppressed anxiety, the feeling of helplessness, the attitude of refraining into passivity. This is convincingly implied to us by the handless "Barbamama" type body formation. It is also interesting, that this woman like body seems to be of ghost nature. The mother of the boy has passed away at his early ages.

 

 

 

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Picture 10. – "Strange Being" by Béla (12 year old boy)

 

Of picture 10. its 12 year old artist commented the following: This is a strange being. It has not eaten for a long time, it was very hungry. One night he stretched out his net, and fortunately many beings got stuck in it. He ate them all up, but he ate so much that his veins blew up of too much food, and he bled to death and passed away (free quote). This is also a unique emotional situation of foster-home life. The longing for food, hunger may also express emotional hunger. On the one hand he is extremely in need of love and acceptance, he is starved, and on the other hand he is also anxious about these feelings, as he has been disillusioned in this sense many times. He is instinctively frightened by getting to love somebody, and again lose that person not much later. Children living in normal families are bound to the same parents and grand-parent throughout their whole lives. In contrast, foster children drift from parents, to step-parents, to foster-parents, to foster-teachers and to patrons. Throughout their lives they have to be bound to different adults. People in the world stop by them for a few seconds, they toss a piece of love-crumb to them, they feel sorry for them, then they go on and do their own businesses. Children take these love-crumbs serious, and thus they are mainly disillusioned.

These traumas lead later to the situation, when in adult years they are unable to make up a long-lasting partner relationship, and start a family.

As I have already mentioned this "internal vision", "self-expression imagination" has been vividly present in early childhood. In older children, teenagers in today's civilization, due to social effects it is mainly suppressed. For this suppression in our mainly modern world, the over-emphasis of rationality is responsible, which makes us forget the improvement of the irrational sphere at the same time. (In more natural cultures this is different.) Irrationality is also a psychological function, – emphasized and noted by C. G. Jung – overemphasizing the rational establishment of culture inevitably leads to the devastation of irrational aspects of culture. The balance of the two and their harmonic improvement is healthy.

 

A case study

The following pictures - drawings by a teenage girl from the foster home - encapsulate a two-year period from the age of 16 to 18. She was diagnosed with an emotionally unstable personality disorder and from time to time she had an obsessive-compulsive urge to cut her forearm with a blade. During this period all her drawings centred on the themes of blood, blood- and teardrops, sharp edges, piercing, screams and crying. Sometimes she gave a title or added a sentence to her pictures – these appear between quotation marks.

 

 

 

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Picture 11. –”When it hurts inside, let it hurt even more”
16 year old girl

 

Once, while drawing one of these pictures she ran out of the studio, up to her bedroom to be found minutes later cutting her forearm.

The background provides us with a possible answer to her compulsive behaviour. After her 14-year-old mother gave birth to her, she left her in the hospital. She was taken to infant foster care and grew up in foster homes. She never got to know her father.

At the age of 15 she met her mother who had no intention to build a relationship or care for her. Realizing that she was not wanted caused a disturbance in her sense of self: involuntarily she questioned the validity of her existence.

 

 

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                                                                                Picture 12. – Silent scream

 

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Picture 13. – Blood drops

  

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                                                                                                                                                            Picture 14. – Hurt

 

 

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Picture 15. – “Life is a Sin” - Crying blood and tears

 

After this painful recognition a constant self-harming urge emerged. Whether it was an attempt to affect her mother, to seek attention or a self-loathing, self-punishing act, we can only make assumptions; but probably more aspects were involved.

Cutting her forearm was also a chance to regain sense of self. Being unwanted indirectly corresponded to being non-existent. The warmth of her blood, its vivid colour, the flowing liquid was clear proof of her existence. Inflicting pain on her own body was a confirmation and reassurance, because only a living person can be hurt. Out of numbness it created an intense sensation.

Self-harm helped her to regain autonomy and release tension. The physical pain may have been the means to distract her from the emotional pain.

 

 

 

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Picture 16. – ”Don’t lick your wounds and don’t cry in public”

 

 

 

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Picture 17. – Shadowy figure of unknown father I.

 

 

 

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Picture 18. – Shadowy figure of unknown father II.

 

 

The pictures with the title “Shadowy figure of the unknown father” were inspired by dreams she had of an unrecognizable figure she identified as her father.

All the way through this crisis she has been treated only by the means of art therapy. She was producing these drawings for two years. By carrying out the thoughts about self-harm in art, the urge to make them real was eliminated. After the two-year period she stopped cutting herself and her drawings contained different topics, new colours and less unsettling symbolic figures.

 

 

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Picture 19. –

 

The godlike figure has two different eyes – similar to (Picture 15.) crying blood and tears, but the subject is much more hopeful. An arrow is pointing upwards to the stars. The picture below depicts a winged bird-like being and a shooting star, suggesting that the artist started a symbolic way up to the stars.

 

 

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Picture 20.-

 Summary

 

My method provides an opportunity not only to teenagers, but also for adults, to find this "internal vision" in ourselves again, and with the help of it to be able to express ourselves, expose the deepest dimensions of our being. The method is also a procedure, since starting out of the natural forms of external reality gradually, from point-to-point it leads to the exposition of the internal world and its forms. For the teenager the mythic-symbolic image and the verbal definition is of healing power in itself, since modelling the world and his/her internal conflicts this way, he/she can "play" or "study" solutions on the model level, and the problem is exposed from the personality at the same time, on the "plain of the paper sheet". Feelings and emotions are projected onto the figures created by him/her, thus internal anxiety is decreased, and inhibitions are loosened. This method of revealing the soul is less dangerous for the "self", than other direct therapeutic technologies, since problems here may be expressed on the level of symbols, they do not have to be directly undertaken. In the procedure of conflict-processing the problem is not solved directly but on the path of symbolic models, even unconsciously, which is much easier. For a teenager this may also be of such value, as if he/she has solved the problem in reality, which is often impossible due to their life circumstances. As a matter of fact it is an emotional cleansing process, carried out spontaneously.

 

 

Literature:

 

1.      István Platthy: Personality Improvement of Foster-Children and Youngsters with Fine Art Equipment. Improvement Education professional journal, 1994/2-3.

2.      István Platthy: Teenager Years' Personal Myths. The Analysis of Drawings by Foster-Children. Aimless Teenage Years. Study volume. Pont Publisher, Budapest, 2002. Improvement Education professional journal, 2003./4-5.