CHENNAI: Right from the age of two, Meena Gayathri has enjoyed art, especially drawing on walls and traditional Indian arts. Over the years, she realised she enjoyed the process of art more than seeing the end product itself. “Taking my time off, seeing how colours evolve and immersing myself into it; it was like meditation for me,” Meena recalls.
So it was only natural that when she went to New York to pursue a master’s degree in interior design, she was fascinated about the concept of art therapy that she came across there. “A lot of people don’t know this concept in India, though it’s prevalent in the west. It’s basically seeing art as a medium for healing. The core of the concept is to get people emulsified in the process of art,” she explains.
Art therapy is about concentrating on the process of drawing, colours and strokes, bringing out the best in you out on paper, and is used for treatment of several mental illnesses and has been proved effective.
“Here in school, we only think of art as an extra-curricular subject, and people are judged based on whose artwork is better. It’s not seen as something that will help people,” she says, “I really wanted to bring this concept here, nowadays you are always in stress and you feel that the only way to de-stress is partying,” she adds, saying India being one of the hubs of art, getting back to the ancient art is something that will ground us and bring out the best in us.
Thus began her venture, Art Alive, a series of art therapy workshops based in Chennai. It took her around two years to get the course together and tailor it for the Chennaites. “In any psychologically effectual session, there are two kinds of reactions — people feel happy and relieved, or people get dull. I’ve seen people cry after a session, because it brings out all the compressed emotions,” she says.
She experimented with one-on-one sessions to know how her therapy really helps. “Right now I have started introducing people to what art therapy is and touch on basics — how to declutter your mind. Eventually, I plan to get onto more solid concepts.” One of the basic exercises is colouring a mandala — a Buddhist principle — which is just as powerful as meditation. “People can choose inverted papers of mandalas and then choose four colours.
Based on their strokes and colours I get to know them, and can tell what kind of person they are,” she exclaims.
Being a Chennai girl, she started with Art Alive here, but plans to take it to other cities in South India soon. The workshop will stress on concepts of being able to express yourself, how to de-stress yourself, think clearly and be more intuitive, and is open to all from age 10 and above.
Art Alive’s art therapy session is happening today from 10 am to 5 pm. Her next workshop is on July 8.
For details, call 8122496989