Emily W
Artist Statement
For my final year of graduate school, I started an internship at a pediatric hospital with passion to work with children and teenagers but low confidence in my therapeutic abilities. At the time I was going through a personal journey of managing chronic health issues, which led me to be concerned that my personal life would impact my ability to work professionally. As a result I decided to create rigid life/work boundaries my first semester at my internship. I created the image “Boundaries” to reflect this distinct divide that I was attempting to maintain. As the months went by I realized that my boundaries were unrealistic and leading myself to become guarded. I created “Balance” as motivation to be more flexible and allow my personal experiences to guide my therapeutic work while still maintaining clinical objectivity.
This became my goal for capstone. I decided to use response art to reassure that I was providing quality care and being empathetically present for my patients. I started to trust my therapeutic instincts and build confidence in my professional identity. I created a self-portrait as a means of ending my time in graduate school to reflect the personal and professional growth I gained in this final year. I sealed off the canvas with wood and filled it with all the response art images that I created this semester to provide a sense of finality. “Containment” represents myself at the end of this phase of life, feeling exhausted but accomplished.
Art Therapy is located in room 326 of Rogers Hall on the Graduate Campus.
MSC: 86
email ctsp@lclark.edu
voice 503-768-6060
fax 503-768-6065
Chair Cort Dorn-Medeiros
Art Therapy
Lewis & Clark
615 S. Palatine Hill Road MSC 86
Portland OR 97219