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Art in prison and art therapy
Two unusual art exhibits hosted by Lviv
By Liubov DOLID
Dzerkalo-3. Anonimno (Mirror-3. Anonymous) vernissage was organized by Lviv oblast’s psychiatric hospitals, including the Lviv Regional Psychiatric Clinic and Lviv State Medical University, and hosted by the Dzyha Arts Center as part of the art therapy project “Bliss in the Mirror,” along with an unusual exhibit of works of art created by convicts and entitled “Transfigurations by God’s Love,” held at Lviv’s Religious History Museum.
Both exhibits contain works of art submitted by people who are beyond the borders of society. Some are serving time in prison for various reasons and various crimes. It is perhaps not that important whether they violated laws consciously or unintentionally as each of them is paying for his mistake with his own broken life. Others are psychiatric patients, confined to their wards and separated from the outer world by high walls. Their doctors are probably the only people who can understand the inner world in which their patients live, because no one else can possibly enter it.
Works of art made by convicts reflect their vision of the modern world as seen through the bars and through their awareness of their crimes, so these works have to be understood not only by appearance but also with an eye to each artist’s complicated mosaic pattern of emotions and painful memories — all that which makes up their inner creative world and made them use the palette, brushes, paints, or clay when making pieces of pottery, needles and threads when making pieces of embroidery, or molds for their plaster-of-Paris works. A number of their items — works of art and hand-made household appliances — are rooted in such memories, although most have to do with religious themes. R. Bubriak, head of the Lviv Religious History Museum’s art exhibits department, said that “this exhibit is the way the convicts seek forgiveness for their wrongdoings from the Lord and fellow humans. On the other hand, they must be granted this forgiveness, which they desire and expect so much from behind bars.”
The Dzyha Arts Center has other works of art submitted by inmates of Lviv’s mental hospitals. Most of these are kept in abstract style, being part of art therapy programs. Each such canvas reflects a specific patient’s emotional condition. Some portray this world as blue, green, and yellow squares — perhaps because these people would like to see this world as tranquil as the sky, water, grass, and sun. There are quite a number of items on display that appear to be meaningless, with confusing mixtures of colors and chaotic patterns. But even here one can detect certain lines, brushstrokes, and dots that interact, creating a certain kind of harmony.
Experts believe that art therapy at psychiatric hospitals has a positive effect on patients and is strongly promoted worldwide. The world-known artist Vincent van Gogh committed himself to the psychiatric hospital at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole and for him painting sometimes proved more effective than any medications. He painted trees, cornfields, and nights. His famous canvas, The Starry Night, conveys the eternal movement of life, of the boundless Universe. He painted this picture while in the confines of the hospital in Saint-Remy, and his masterpiece remains unmatched.
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