KATHLEEN FOGEL-RICHMOND, MA, LMFT, ATR-BC
As an art therapist, I strive to help others use art to heal and also understand and make adaptive changes in their lives. My own art making is central to exploring my feelings and understanding my world. Firstly, the process itself of making art is relaxing and meditative. It allows me to clear my mind from stressors while immersing myself only in color choices or strokes on a canvas or shapes emerging out of clay. Secondly, the image content specifically provides a focus for contemplation and exploration through symbolic representation of feelings, experiences or reactions.
Weeping World
(Acrylics / Mixed Media: Map, Puzzle Pieces, Band-Aids, 4’ x 4’)
During the tumultuous year of 2020, my artmaking has become increasingly focused on overwhelming feelings of sadness resulting from a pandemic which has been most difficult for marginalized & BIPOC communities. My painting is a mixed media piece integrating paint on a world map, puzzle pieces & band-aids representing a symbolic need to piece things back together & heal. The piece also touches on fears about the acceleration of climate change in our world, which will continue to disproportionally affect those most vulnerable communities, as we all struggle to adapt.