[10-3] The house as symbolic representation of the self
Presentation language：English
My PhD-art therapy research investigates symbolic aesthetic representations of the self in the form of the house. The study covers several cultures (Japan and Europe), incorporating fieldworks with art therapy patients, artists and architects. Additionally, it searches for possible visual indications of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder symptoms within house based aesthetic works.
Working on the theme of the house can be a means of expressing and reconstructing suffering selves through art making. The topic of the house is both emotionally charged and universal; it proved to be appropriate for cross-cultural research as people are concerned with its presence, or absence.
My research methodology is grounded in qualitative phenomenological approaches, including a quantitative element via the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder test (IES-R, Weiss & Marmar, 1996). Fieldwork procedures consisted of art therapy focus group workshops in clinical, and non-clinical settings where participants are invited to paint houses. Analysis of obtained material builds on phenomenological coding looking for emerging patterns.
The focus of this paper is to discuss overall findings gathered in Japan and Europe. Overlapping and dissimilar patterns are investigated both theoretically and practically, while avoiding reductionist approaches, highlighting distinct culturally grounded phenomena, which Mauss (1934) referred to as "cultural moulding". The study's findings are conceptualized via notions of architectural and cultural theory, art therapy and philosophy.