Art4Knowledge
Art4Knowledge is an innovative approach to learning about and creating awareness of patient experiences.
From January to June 2023, the Art4Knowledge workshop series offered an art therapy intervention to patients with or beyond a cancer diagnosis, families of patients, and clinical trials teams of the UCC Cancer Trials Group, facilitated by the Crawford College of Art and Design (CCAD). Workshop participants were encouraged to reflect on their own experiences, perceptions, and feelings around receiving cancer care and participation in clinical trials (patients/families), and the provision of cancer care (clinical trials teams), which were communicated to each other using creative media. This exhibition showcases some of the artworks produced by participants in the Art4Knowledge workshops.
Art4Knowledge was designed to facilitate those affected by cancer and those working in cancer care to communicate experiences often difficult to put into words. The Art4Knowledge workshops were facilitated by CCAD MA in Art Therapy final year students Shelly O’Connor and Julie Horgan, with the open goal of being supportive to the emerging needs of each client group throughout the project. The sessions aimed to break down barriers between patients with cancer, families of patients, and clinical trials teams. Through creative expression, the project became an innovative way to learn about the human experience and build bridges of communication within cancer care.
Exhibition
The Art4Knowledge Exhibition was curated outside traditional boundaries. All artworks put forward by the artists has been displayed without adjudication. All participants in the Art4Knowledge workshops were given appropriate space and time to reflect on the art therapy process and then made an autonomous decision to contribute to the exhibition if they so wished. For those who chose to exhibit, the process of selecting the artworks endeavoured to be empowering.
It is important that viewers of this exhibition are mindful that each individual artwork displayed has been created within a therapeutic process and remains personal to each artist. Identification of which group each artist was a part of has purposefully been omitted. This emphasises the breaking down of barriers between groups and communicates the commonalities of the human experience.
Graphic Harvest I
UCC Cancer Trials Group Retreat, 25 Nov ‘22
Session I – Linking cancer trials teams through art
Artist:
Helen O’Keeffe
Medium:
Digital print on canvas
Graphic Harvest II
UCC Cancer Trials Group Retreat, 25 Nov ‘22
Session II – Drawing new connections between cancer trials staff, patients and public
Artist:
Helen O’Keeffe
Medium:
Digital print on canvas
Untitled
Artist:
Sonya Lynch
Medium:
Collage on paper
Quality Street
Artist:
Mary O’Connell Motherway
Medium:
Wool and beads on canvas
How I See Myself
Artist:
Finbarr Pyne
Medium:
Paint on paper
Journey
Artist:
Finbarr Pyne
Medium:
Paint on paper
‘Hope’ – On The Horizon
Artist:
Karen O’Byrne
Medium:
Feathers, crepe and shells on canvas
Keep The Sparkle In Your Core
Artist:
Karen O’Byrne
Medium:
Feathers, crepe and shells on canvas
There It Is
Artist:
Clíona O’Carroll
Medium:
Chalk pastel on black paper
Stealing the Flum-Flum
Artist:
Clíona O’Carroll
Medium:
Paper, string, fabric, marbles
Past, Present & Future
Artist:
Debra
Medium:
Paint on paper
Family
Artist:
Debra
Medium:
Paint and collage on paper
Kind & Complex
Artist:
Edel Hassett Burke
Medium:
Paint, fabric and natural materials on paper
Island Dreaming
Artist:
Edel Hassett Burke
Medium:
Paint on paper
Eyes
Artist:
Anonymous
Medium:
Chalk pastel on black paper
Optimism
Artist:
Anonymous
Medium:
Chalk pastel on white paper
How I See Myself
Artist:
Anonymous
Medium:
Paint on canvas
How My Family Sees Me
Artist:
Anonymous
Medium:
Paint and sequins on canvas
Art Therapy
Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses art materials as the main form of communication. It is a three-way process involving image, client, and therapist, which takes place in a safe and confidential space. The art image can bring the conscious and unconscious into expressive and tangible forms, which can be explored in meaningful ways with the support of an art therapist. The art produced through art therapy is never judged; no prior experience or skill in art is necessary. Art therapy can help to find creative solutions and new perspectives and can help to build sources of inner strength and resilience.
Art4Knowledge was funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) through a Knowledge Translation Award and coordinated by the UCC Cancer Trials Group in collaboration with the Crawford College of Art and Design.
