Materials & Media in Art Therapy ─ Critical Understandings of Diverse Artistic Vocabularies

In art making, materials and media are the intermediaries between private ideas, thoughts and feelings, and their external manifestation in a tangible, sensual form. Thus, materials provide the core components of the exchange that occurs between art therapists and clients. This book focuses on the sensory-based, tangible vocabulary of materials and media and its relevance to art therapy. It provides a historical account of the theory and use of materials and media in art therapy, as well as an examination of the interface between art therapy, contemporary art materials and practices, and social/critical theory. Contributing authors provide examples of how art therapists have transgressed conventional material boundaries and expanded both thinking and practice in the field. The chapters discuss traditional as well as innovative media, such as body adornments, mail and video art, and comic books. An accompanying DVD contains media clips, as well as 69 color images.

Catherine Hyland Moon, MA, ATR-BC, is associate professor and chair of the Graduate Art Therapy program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A painter and mixed media artist, writer, and curator, her professional publications and presentations in art therapy have focused on the unique contributions of an artistic perspective in therapeutic practice.

Section I: Art Therapy Materials and Media: History and Theory. Moon, A History of Materials and Media in Art Therapy. Moon, Theorizing Materiality in Art Therapy: Negotiated Meanings. Orr, Social Remixing: Art Therapy Media in the Digital Age. Section II: From Artist to Art Therapist: How Art Therapists' Use of Materials, Media, and Practices Informs the Work as Therapists. Yi, From Imperfect to I Am Perfect: Reclaiming the Disabled Body Through Making Body Adornments in Art Therapy. Whitaker, Groundswell: The Nature and Landscape of Art Therapy. Newman, Creating a Safe Place for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth: Exhibiting Installation Art for Social Change. Gerity, Fourteen Secrets for a Happy Artist's Life: Using Art and the Internet to Encourage Resilience, Joy, and a Sense of Community. Colletti, Inspired by a Stranger: Exploring Mail Art. Section III: Materials and Media Applications in Art Therapy. Austin, Technology, Art Therapy, and Psychodynamic Theory: Computer Animation With an Adolescent in Foster Care. Huss, Bedouin Women's Embroidery as Female Empowerment: Crafts as Culturally Embedded Expression Within Art Therapy. Lukas-Falk, Comic Books, Connection, and the Artist Identity. Mosinski, Video Art and Activism: Applications in Art Therapy. Hawley, Beatmaking: Reaching Beyond Art Therapy to Follow the Creative Path of Music.