Lim Syl-vyn

The aim of this qualitative research thesis was to examine how the identity of a dual-roled social worker-art therapist professional is formed and shaped, within the intersubjective experience of making art alongside an art therapy group of social work practitioners working with the homeless in Singapore.

Using a heuristic, art-based method, the researcher, who is a social work practitioner training to become an art therapist, closely examined her professional-formation experience through the facilitation of group art therapy with social workers, to discover the influences that shaped the transition of her professional dual-identity.

The findings demonstrated that the process of undergoing a reflective self-study within the context of relationships with other professionals was effective in helping her to discover and work through professional identity dissonance encountered during the process of becoming.

Disposables is a meditation on Singapore’s pervasive throwaway culture, where objects—and, by extension, people are quickly devalued in the relentless pursuit of efficiency and success.

This artwork challenges that paradigm by affirming the inherent worth within every object and person. It resists the impulse to discard, inviting the viewer to pause, reflect and reconsider what is too easily overlooked.