Letting Go to Express

Posted on February 19th, 2010 by Maya Christina

I went to Almaden Elementary School in San Jose in January. It was one of those visits that leaves me feeling very happy. I enjoyed an especially full day because I got to come into contact with basically every kid in the school. This meant 3 big assemblies and 2 preschool readings. The last assembly was the older kids, 4-5th grade, so besides my presentation we got to do a project together. I’m always moved by the generosity and exuberance of childhood and what children show in their art. But this time what I was most moved by was the very last question of the day. We only had time for one more. Thankfully I called on this boy who asked, “How do I let go and express my emotions in my art?”

I swear it was like having a plant in the audience to ask the most beautiful question possible. I get asked a lot, a lot of things, but this was unique. This question seemed loaded with urgency and care. I said what I could in the moment, but was so struck by his question and the look on his face that I took it home and worked on it some more.

Over the last several months we have been working hard on our Claiming Face Educator Guide and discussing this topic of letting go and expressing through art was the perfect thing to include.

Excerpt from
CLAIMING FACE
Self-Empowerment through Self-Portraiture
An Educator’s Guide to Building the Powerful Link between Creativity and a Sense of Self:

One way to begin expressing and letting go into emotion when making art, is to use your body. If you’re mad, draw madly. Can you imagine what drawing mad looks like, feels like? How would you hold your pastel mad? Can you feel it in how you hold your mouth? Contrast that with a soft, fluffy drawing? Or a flowing drawing? When your drawing originates in your body how you feel can come directly out through your hand. This affects how you create a mark, even how you contact the page. It may not matter what you’re drawing. What matters is HOW you’re drawing. This is direct, experiential expression.

Sometimes it can be confusing to know how to express everything in your art, especially deep or complicated feelings or experiences. In Nana’s Big Surprise, the story is about the grandmother’s visit while grieving the loss of the grandfather along with the mishap of the family waiting for eggs from their chickens. It’s a layered story and I wanted to show both layers: the chicken/rooster surprise as well as the inner story of Nana’s heart and her connection to her grandchildren. I created the imagery of the key for the children, and the heart milagro and shawl for the grandmother. Through this coding the reader can see and explore the familial connections and the inner journey of grief along with the main story. (this is described in greater detail in Behind the Story in the Chapter 8.)

In My Colors, My World there is also a story inside the story, but it is more coded in the imagery than in Nana’s Big Surprise. This story opens with a familiar, but big event. A powerful and blind wind has covered everything with sand, making everything the same color. The wind and sand storm symbolize an overwhelming experience. Often when we experience something very difficult, it can feel like everything in our world goes flat, loses meaning or becomes colorless. This is both a story about a little girl discovering color, but also about her finding a sense of self through reflection and the return of curiosity for and meaning in her surroundings.

Some Ways To Express Emotion in Your Art:
• Use a symbol to represent an emotion
• Use a symbolic action to represent an experience
• Use your body to hold the emotion so that how you mark the page is expressive

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Look for the pre-release of our Claiming Face Educator Guide coming in April with limited advanced copies, with the official release date in July 2010.