Painting is a pleasure and a form of expression, and it is also used in medical plus care settings. Here I write about clinical art and art therapy, as far as I understand them.
Clinical art
Clinical art (rinsho bijutsu) is an art program born in Japan. In 1996 it was devised by the sculptor Kenji Kaneko, with the cooperation of the neurosurgeon Shin Kimura plus the family care advisor Kazuo Sekine, as a method to help train brain function in older people.
It was originally developed to ease the symptoms of dementia, but today it is also used in children's education, corporate training and other settings. Its feature is the use of all the senses, not only sight: touching with the hands, smelling, tasting, moving the hands while listening to sounds.
There is a qualification in this field, the clinical art instructor, certified by the Japan Clinical Art Association.
Art therapy
In general, art therapy often refers to a psychotherapeutic context, where the state of the mind is read from a drawing, or the drawing becomes a starting point for dialogue. The association explains that clinical art differs in that it is an approach by artists working in a team with doctors.
In neither case is drawing well the goal. The meaning lies in the process of moving the hands itself.
My work is not treatment
To be clear, I am an artist who paints order art. I am neither a clinical art instructor nor a therapist. My paintings are not treatment.
Even so, when I listen to people who commission a painting, I sometimes hear things like: I was able to sort out my feelings while it was being painted. Since hanging it on the wall, it has supported me on hard days.
In medical plus care settings, it is recognized that art can work on a person's state. For me, wanting to support people through painting, that is an encouraging fact.
Mermaid nao's order art is painted to be a piece that supports your strength to live.
[References]
Japan Clinical Art Association, NPO (Japanese): What is clinical art / About the association
TOPPAN Geizoken Co., Ltd. (Japanese): What is the art therapy called clinical art?
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