Art Process

Art has the ability to restart what has stalled, as in the case of illness; the clay therapy restarts and at the same time interrupts the hospital routine by offering a therapeutic-recreational space. Clay is a material that can receive all emotions, without exception. It is the material on which one can leave a mark, an imprint. It adapts to everyone’s needs, without the need for words. During the laboratories in the hospital with the Thun Foundation around the work table, with great spontaneity we start to model, just take a small piece of clay in your hand and the magic begins. Based on who is sitting, the most suitable process is proposed in order to create a welcoming, protected space to give the child and the parent the opportunity to express themselves according to their own inclinations and needs. The artistic therapeutic process is a finalized path whose purpose is to accompany those who are going through a difficult time, strengthening and nurturing creativity. Therefore no words are needed, the artwork thus assumes a value full of expectations, our job is to ensure that the child and the parent can achieve what at that moment is most important to them, be it a functional object like a cup, or an animal or anything for them has value, in the here and now of the present they are going through. The modeled work is therefore the means and vehicle of an emotional nucleus that, not having to go through the words, succeeds in allowing even the little ones to elaborate their emotions. So the artistic process is the tool, the path that allows to realize, through various phases, the object that is important to realize. The sphere is the seed of the universe, through the modeling of the sphere almost everything can be born, creating a path, the process precisely. In the process, the idea, as for the seed, is rooted, grows, is nourished, takes shape, tries to give it body and, in general astonishment, appears, becomes an object in the world. The process then continues, in the atelier the ceramist takes care of the object, monitors that it dries with the ideal conditions, then fires it in the ceramic kiln, puts the clear glaze to make it shiny and impermeable, re-fires it a second time. This is another important procedural aspect because it creates a continuity in the child between one meeting and another supported by the waiting full of expectation. Finally, when the work is returned, it is a special moment of joy and satisfaction for those who receive it. Something important was elaborated through various phases, within an artistic process. In some cases long years are built with some children, or there are single or occasional meetings. In other cases, the object can be invaluable to the family in which the child cannot heal. It is important to see the processuality of what we do in its entirety and understand its value, as well as the outcomes, always working with the hands and the heart.