Bio
I am an artist with multiple professional identities including as an art therapist, educator, and researcher in healthcare and community settings. In my current professional roles, I am Professor and Chair of the Creative Arts Therapies at Drexel University. In my Health, Arts, Learning and Evaluation (HALE) research lab, I examine the physiological and psychological health outcomes of visual and narrative self-expression. I have published over 80 peer-reviewed papers and two books, namely The Expressive Instinct (Oxford University Press) and Arts-Based Psychosocial Support for Children and Families Living in Adversity (Routledge Press). My research has been continually funded since 2008 by federal agencies like the Department of Defense, Department of Education, National Endowment for the Arts as well as foundation and academic centers and has been featured by NPR, CNN, The New York Times as well as a range of media outlets worldwide. I examine how art therapy helps mitigate distress in conditions like post-traumatic stress among military service members, post-menopausal women’s health, and, chronic stress among patients and caregivers in pediatric hematology/oncology units. Additional international research projects include examining the therapeutic underpinnings of indigenous and traditional artforms.
Statement
Artmaking to me has been a lifelong friend that has helped me process thoughts and cope with emotions. It has been a means for reflection, engagement with the world, and exploration of creative possibilities. During the year(s) when COVID-19 brought physical restrictions, emotional confusion, and sustained changes to our lives, artmaking was a way to connect with myself, my family, and professional community. I found self-regulation by allowing myself refuge in my artistic practices. Art served as a sanctuary sometimes simply as a form of distraction and keeping our hands busy. At other times, artmaking was about externalizing our complex emotional landscapes. Much of my own research on the therapeutic aspects of artmaking (e.g., improved mood, reduced stress, gaining perspective, feeling positive emotions, self-efficacy and creative agency) are inspired by my experiences of what artistic practice has meant for my own health and well-being.
The forced living online in the pandemic years, made me want to work in the physical world with natural media more than ever. Being outdoors is now an essential part of my every day living. I gather natural materials and renew them into new forms and expressions. In the last several years, my artmaking has taken an intentional turn towards mixed media (wood from my backyard in particular) inspired by natural materials and nature metaphors. Instead of traditional canvases, I have increasing been using elements of nature as both the theme and the base for my art. Natural materials represent to me the transient beauty and anonymity of everyday lives as well as the paradoxically universal uniqueness of all beings.
