I AM DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE MY FIRST SOLO SHOW, RITUALS AND PORTALS, SEPTEMBER 19TH AND 20TH, TO RAISE FUNDS FOR TUITION FEES IN MSC CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND THE DEMENTIA HUB WEST BERKSHIRE
Details
Date, Time – Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th September, 10am – 4pm
Address – The Milking Parlour, Monksmead Farm, Upper Woolhampton, Berkshire, RG7 5TA
Contact – samuel.raphael8@icloud.com, 07729622399
I am currently in the early stages of my journey towards a career in clinical psychology. As such, I will be starting an MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences at UCL in September. This exhibition is being held to raise funds to pay for my tuition fees and help facilitate this exciting new adventure that is personally deeply meaningful. Of course, an event like this would simply not be possible without our community. There will be a fundraiser for the West Berkshire Dementia Hub which will be built to support people across West Berkshire and North Hampshire to receive vital early diagnosis, transforming the way that individuals and their family carers get the information, training and guidance they need. There will be a raffle for one of my paintings in the exhibition with tickets being sold for £10, an amazing chance to win an original painting at a low cost and support a meaningful cause. All proceeds from the raffle will go to the Dementia Hub.
Artist’s Statement
As psychology edges closer towards that of the natural sciences in its philosophy and application, psychology and art might be seen as existing on opposite ends of an analytical – creative spectrum. I believe it is for this very reason that art, be it visual art, music or literature, has the potential to be so significant in the psychology professions.
Indeed, in the current climate of “medicalisation” of mental health – assessment, diagnosis, medication – what has stayed inherent to the human condition is the desire to make meaning of our suffering by telling stories and making art, thus transcending some of the absurdity of life by finding or creating beauty, meaning and purpose.
The practice of psychology and psychiatry can be guilty of disregarding this fundamental drive for story in favour of a more medical model of mental health focused on classification and cure. This approach quietly dissolves our ability to embody the meaning that we derive from the narratives we tell about our lives and what has happened to us. It reorients the focus of psychological therapy towards treatment of a disease, rather than a more compassionate focus on the person which would integrate life events, trauma and personal narratives into a more holistic and individuated identity.
I believe art, story and conversation, are irrevocably entangled in this journey of creating a more narrative understanding of psychological suffering. It is an iterative process rather than a direct cure, reflected in the perennial adventure of what it means to go through the process of making or appreciating art. Because it is always a process:
“The end of a melody is not its goal” – Nietzsche
I believe this process is always more enlightening when shared. Whether it is shared in conversation, activity, or simply in mutual presence, these are the Rituals we collectively partake in which ground our sense of purpose. Art, then, in all its forms, is a shared Portal to a more visceral understanding of our minds and the world.
“Through the eyes of a real friendship an individual is larger than their everyday actions” – David Whyte
It is community which underscores the power of art for its facilitation of shared experience. Community, conversation, reciprocity, are so important, maybe now more than ever as we become increasingly more detached. The Dementia Hub West Berkshire is a charity in our community which will have a significant impact in this regard, and so I am delighted to be supporting them.
I Look forward to seeing you there.
