The Power of Art
Why do humans need art? Humans have been creating visual art dating back to prehistoric cave drawings. This tells us that even in times where survival was the most important thing at hand humans still had an innate desire to create and express themselves. A beautiful thing about art is that art is a universal and timeless language. Art is something that unites us all despite our time on this Earth, the language that we speak, or the background that we come from. Art is a tangible reminder of the stories that we wish to tell.
Why do we like art? Whether it’s a painting we see, a song that we hear, or a movie that we watch, we tend to like the art because of the emotion that it evokes in us. There are times when emotions are felt so deeply that we need a form of expression to release them. Art allows us to process our emotions, experiences, and trauma in a healthy way.
Researcher has shown that trauma is processed through the sensory part of the brain. This is why certain sounds, smells, tastes, visual reminders and the way things feel can trigger the memory of trauma. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” When we’re talking about trauma it can often feel extremely difficult to find the words to describe exactly how we’re feeling. This is because verbalization takes part in the analytical section of brain, whereas art takes part in the sensory section of the brain where the trauma was initially processed.
Art is no stranger to the world of substance use and mental health disorders. Some of the most famous artists in the world had their own personal battle with the co-occurring disorders. Artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Andy Warhol, and Jackson Pollock all had struggles with substance abuse and mental health disorders. We even see famous artists today such as Demi Lovato, Robert Downey Jr., and Elton John that have been open about their personal journey in recovery and use their artform as a healing process.
I was once asked to depict art as healing when I created the picture below. I took three words of things I have struggled with the most with in life, took out a few letters, and rearranged them to create the saying “art inspires redefined voice.” I drew myself getting lost in a world I had created on paper as a safe place to process the hurt and battles that I have experienced. When we take the things that have hurt us the most and are able to transform them into a new creation of beauty and power, we take back our voice that was once silenced.
Shelby Howland, M.S., LPC Candidate
