School of Creative
Industries
Armanda Colson
A multidisciplinary artist and arts educator, Armanda holds a BA in Communication and Rhetoric Studies as well as a minor in Studio Art. With a background in teaching film photography and darkroom processing, Armanda discovered the transformative power of art-making and the role it plays in restoration, recreation, and self-discovery.
Her artistic practice is deeply rooted in exploration, as she delves into themes of nostalgia, spatiality, memory and play through a bricolage approach using assemblage, collage, and photography. This led her to pursue an MA in Art Therapy, where she further honed her skills in engaging others in the creative process to foster self-actualization and greater self-awareness.
With her person-centred approach, Armanda values the importance of creating a safe and supportive space for clients to explore their inner selves through art-making. Her clinical training included working with educators in an international school setting and adolescent girls in a residential treatment centre in Singapore, where she witnessed firsthand the powerful impact of art therapy.
Armanda believes in the dynamic and active nature of change and growth, finding joy in holding space for clients. She remains curious about the in-between spaces where art therapy can aid healing, and continues to draw inspiration and energy from play in the art therapy process.
Work
Poetics of Self Discovery
Hanging fabric and setting, video
7:00 minutes
2023
In Poetics of Self Discovery, Armanda delves into the liminal spaces of memory and home, exploring what is both temporal and eternal. Through her piece she revisits a place from her past to resurrect an aesthetic experience. It is only when she puts her assemblage together that she realizes the familiarity between her childhood home and her mixed media artwork of a Thai hotel lobby.
The convergence of these memories invites viewers into the fragmented recollection, surrounded by objects that reflect her past, present and future. The sewing box, thread, scarves, figures, and act of reconstruction all become sacred acts of self-discovery – a playful bricolage of memory and identity, where something is restored with each assembly.
As she and her mother view the nearly finished work, their voices overlap, echoing the journey of recollection. The work and the memory become intertwined as they come together, creating something new and uniquely embodied.
Thesis abstract
The bricolage effect: Art-based experiential workshops informed by art therapy principles and practice with educators
This practitioner-based qualitative study aimed to explore the impact of group art experiential workshops informed by art therapy theory and principles on educators tasked with embedding social-emotional learning (SEL) in their practices within an international school setting in Singapore. Using the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) framework, psychodynamic principles, and borrowing from an eclectic selection of art therapy theories joined with the current CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) framework through an integrative and generative process called ‘bricolage’ this study reflected on a variety of themes illustrating the impact of using art therapy practice and principles to engage educators in the process of experiential learning toward greater self-awareness. This study’s findings were arranged through a series of 8 themes I refer to as self-awareness indicators. These themes are comprised of 8 common and general therapeutic goals that align with the CASEL competency self-awareness. This study seeks to answer the critical question, “What is the impact of providing group art-based experiential workshops promoting self-awareness informed by art therapy principles and practice to educators tasked with implementing SEL?” This study’s findings suggest that group art-based experiential workshops are an impactful and effective approach to supporting SEL and self-awareness among educators in educational settings.