A Review of Art as Contemplative Practice: Expressive Pathways to the Self
J. Dalton
Studies in Art Education April 3, 2019 DOI: 10.1080/00393541.2019.1600228 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key points | Argues that art as a contemplative practice can facilitate transformational growth, promote resiliency, and support healing. |
Abstract
Can art heal? Can art bring laughter, good cheer, wholeness, wisdom? From what depth does art arise? In the foreword to Art as Contemplative Practice: Expressive Pathways to the Self, these questions direct the reader to the foundation of this book, which is an exploration of the ways in which art as a contemplative practice offers transformational growth and healing. In Art as Contemplative Practice, Michael A. Franklin draws on personal experience as a visual artist, art therapist, researcher, and cancer survivor to illuminate how art, as a contemplative practice, can facilitate growth and offer embodied wisdom. Throughout this book, Franklin brings together the spiritual and material with a breadth of experiments, useful images of his own work, and references to the work of other artists, weaving together a rich tapestry of information. He draws on Indian philosophy, Buddhism, psychology, and imaginal intelligence. He provides an introduction to art as contemplative practice, which includes music, dance, poetry, and the visual arts, because these artforms express and communicate human feeling. Franklin’s writing style is well organized, deeply reflective, and rife with personal experience that sheds light on the multiple ways art as contemplative practice holds the power to be deeply transformative, promote resiliency, and support healing. The author explains how art as a
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |