collected unconscious 2013

We are a group of experienced art therapists who teach on the MA Art Psychotherapy at Goldsmiths, University of London.  For the past four years we have been working on a project entitled ‘unconscious’ in which we make art works and write, in reflexive cycles, on what we understand the unconscious to be both individually and as a group.  Our project interacts with student learning in that we model a way of using art and writing to explore themes related to our therapeutic work.  The collaborative nature of the project is important too; we make art and write separately, and then come together to explore our similarities and differences as we develop the social implications embedded in Freud’s understanding of the unconscious. We have put on three exhibitions of our work, two at conferences: the 15th European Symposium in Group Analysis at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2011, and the International Art Therapy Conference: Finding a voice, making your mark: Defining Art Therapy for the 21st Century, Goldsmiths’ in 2013; the third is currently showing as part of the Festival of the Unconscious at the Freud Museum, London.

THE UNCONSCIOUS PROJECT