Madison Boender

As an art therapist, I view myself as a creative archeologist and storyteller. Not only do I use art to tell my story, but I also get to help others uncover their story, understand it, and tell it. A major part of my identity development through the program has been learning my capacity and establishing boundaries for myself. I entered the program immediately after graduating college and carried over my unsustainable work habits. I had to process what would be the most sustainable expectation for my education and wellbeing. This has been a program long journey to understanding my capacity. This is what Flourishing while Enduring means to me. I have used my artistic expression to process and communicate my experience and needs. I learned that I do in fact value being around people, especially my professors. I also learned about self-compassion through the practice of self-care which became the focus for my thesis. As I was figuring out my capacity, and establishing boundaries, I started to understand why it is important to practice self-care and self-compassion. Through this process, I have broken down unrealistic standards I had for graduate school as well as for myself and am now beginning to see how self-compassion functions in my life.

The themes of boundaries, perspective, hope, growth, compassion, self-care, and mindfulness are seen in my art. Some of these themes are communicated through personal symbols and some are much more literal. One of the personal symbols that can be seen in my art is the navy-blue sweater. This sweater has come to symbolize boundaries and protection, which was influential in my development throughout the program.

A much more literal theme would be perspective which can be experienced in the Trauma Informed Boxes. These boxes come from a prompt to make art from a trauma worldview, a worldview without trauma, and one that is somewhere in-between. I was inspired by the concept of our windows of tolerance. With trauma our windows of tolerance are small, without trauma, those windows are bigger. As we process trauma, our tolerance and windows grow. The way I understand this process is that our ability to emotionally regulate and hold space increases through our healing work.

To indicate where to look for the other themes mentioned, I will give a brief description. Hope is seen in Uprooted with the whimsical element of the balloons carrying the plant lady away. Growth can be seen in the Family Portrait that has the pregnant self-portrait indicating development. Compassion is seen in two artworks, the diptych, Approaching the cross and the Self-Compassion doll. Both ladies hold their hearts to represent having compassion for their feelings, experiences and needs. Self-care is seen in the piece, From the Eggs to the Apples. The lady dusts off her brain. The phrase, “from the eggs to the apples” has roman origins and hints at being thorough with a task. This task being to take care of herself. Overcoming Fear is an older piece that I made based on my understanding of what art therapy would be. I now understand that it captures the mindfulness process of recognizing, accepting, releasing, and focusing on the present. I value symbolism and creative twists on phrases that express humor and contain and communicate my experiences in a visual and physical vessel. That is what brought me to art therapy, the archeological process of uncovering and telling my story through creative expression. I look forward to continuing this exploration and helping others excavate their stories.