Spotlight On… Clay Catharsis
JamFactory’s Ceramics Studio Production Manager, Ashlee Hopkins pictured between two ACH ceramics workshop participants. Photo: ACH Group.
Words by Rebecca Freezer
Strong, concrete, immediate and empowering – these are the qualities of clay therapy according to Dr Patricia Sherwood, Australian author of the seminal handbook: The Healing Art of Clay Therapy.[i]
Once described by Sherwood as the “Cinderella of the art therapies,” due to its transformative potential yet to be fully realised, over the past decade there have been significant progressions in the study and implementation of clay as a form of cognitive therapy. From increasing mood in psychiatric patients, to aiding those healing from trauma, to increasing progress in self-development for patients with schizophrenia.
Two Adelaide-based, not-for-profit community organisations: JamFactory and ACH Group have collaborated to create ceramics workshops designed for people living with a neurological condition. ACH Group, a registered National Disability Insurance Scheme provider, promotes health and social services to older people in South Australia. The workshops are held at JamFactory’s public studio spaces and are designed for all skill-levels and abilities. Participants design and create their own collection of hand-made ceramics, producing up to 10 finished pieces per 8-week term. By way of experiencing the immediate tactility of clay and learning a range of sculpting skills in a supported group environment, the workshops promote brain health, build confidence, increase self-expression and cultivate creativity.
In 2020 the ACH Group workshops at JamFactory are led by Sam Gold, a qualified Art Therapist. Gold is a current JamFactory Associate who produces clay installations informed by the intersection between health and the arts. Many of her works are constructed by the repetitive and therapeutic, coiling and pressing technique - her practice often described as a “cathartic way to self-regulate.”
The success of this community program has allowed the two organisations to extend their series of workshops tailored for people living with neurological disabilities to JamFactory’s Jewellery and Metal Studio and will soon include a Creative Woodwork class in JamFactory’s Furniture Studio.
[i] Sherwood, Patricia. The Healing Art of Clay Therapy. Melbourne: ACER Press, 2004.
This article was published in Vol 59 No1 of The Journal of Australian Ceramics, April 2020.
Permission has been given to make it available in this publication.
© The Australian Ceramics Association 2020.