Artists Who Experience Their Own Healing Process Through Art

Artists Selected From Entries Received For “The Healing Power of ART 2020”

When we announced our call for artists for our Healing Power of ART 2020 exhibition, we asked artists to let us know if they create art as a modality for healing. We are honored to introduce you to several artists who not only create outstanding works of art, they are artists who experience their own healing process through art.

This website was created based on our belief that art serves as a positive catalyst for enhancing the well-being of individuals, society and the environment. We believe that art has the power to heal, inspire, provoke, challenge and offer hope. We will continue to share healing art and articles about art and healing. If this interests you, we invite you to subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter.

Melissa Milton

Melissa Milton is a former attorney who began creating art late in life after becoming disabled by a neurological disorder. She sent us this statement: “I am disabled and can only stand for 5 minutes on land, but can stand for hours in water. I take underwater photographs of people in my therapy pool and later paint upon them.”

In order not to spill wet paint while lying down, she paints with conductive paint brushes and styluses on a touchscreen tablet. She later prints her creations out on canvas, varnishing, wrapping, and wiring the giclée canvases herself. Melissa has informed us, the neurological disorder, Dysautonomia, has not only heavily influenced her art, “it has been the very reason for its existence.”

Melissa begins most of her paintings with either a story or a question she would like to visually depict. These stories and questions are explained beside each painting on the artist’s website. melissamiltonart.com

Kasey Jones

Kasey Jones creates beautiful nature-inspired paintings. She states, “Surviving a stroke and clinical depression, I self re-habed using art and creativity as a therapeutic tool for healing, physically and emotionally. Art improves critical thinking, empathy, observation, communication and reflection by creating a positive evolution in my brain and changes in its ability to repair both hemispheres, stimulating the motor cortex. Creativity has helped release my psychological stress while exercising my motor skills that were affected by the stroke. Being creative engages many different parts of my brain. I’ve researched and experimented on myself how art therapy has a positive effect on stroke survivors.”

She adds, “There are several benefits of positive physical and mental health stimulation, such as the ability to document feelings using colors to express intensities of emotions like fear and anger. Painting has helped me feel more in control, increased my feeling of worth, wellness and quality of life and made me more relaxed and sociable. Stroke recovery is possible through methodology and repetition at any age and any stage.”  kaseyjones.net

Ya Wen Yang

Ya Wen Yang is a multi-talented artist who received her Masters degree from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY. She attended Taipei National University of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts, Theatre Design and Technology.

When she submitted her entries she wrote, “Creating art is a part of my self-care and healing process since I was diagnosed with depression. From the experience, I learned that healing cannot happen until we acknowledge the pain. My art recorded the whole process from my hopelessness, depression, anxiety to the time I started to calmly be with those feelings and accepted myself. I believe people who suffer will be able to relate, to know that they are not alone, and to see the comfort, then embrace our imperfect selves and start to heal.” https://ywyang.weebly.com/illustration.html

Vincent Castaldi

Vincent Castaldi creates captivating and profound works of art. When he submitted his entries to The Healing Power of ART 2020 exhibition he wrote, “Art has been my therapeutic muse, helping me cope through my emotional struggles. Painting is the healing tonic for my anxiety. I am a strong believer in curative media and was honored to be a featured artist on CBS Sunday Morning for ‘Beyond the Diagnosis’, an exhibit inspiring innovative research and treatment for children with rare diseases.”

While in junior high school Vincent attended the acclaimed Rhode Island School of Design Jr. School Program, then worked as a teacher’s assistant and youth art instructor.  He later returned to RISD to study fine art. After graduating, he participated in the RISD European Honors Program during which he traveled to Rome where he studied culture and language while continuing to study and practice drawing and painting.  His art has always been guided by his artistic vision and has continuously evolved adding layered elements of collage.  mixedmediapromo.wixsite.com/vcastaldiart

Kim Thoman

Kim Thoman is an innovative artist who is skilled in bringing new dimensions to art forms. She shared, “As a metaphor for strength, I began these ‘Sentinels’ when I was recovering from chemo and was in need of courage, fortitude, protection, a place for my imagination to flow, and needed whimsy. I hope to share with others in need of positive thinking, encouragement and a sense of community, especially when isolation and fear can so easily set in.”

In her artist’s statement on her website Kim states, “The basis for my art is a belief that duality exists in everything. I am aware of the presence of opposing forces in the world around me, such as intellect and intuition, male and female, stillness and movement, body and soul, light and dark, the organized and chaotic, and of course, life and death. My artwork aims to bring the duality of contrasting energy forces into balance. My desire is to present opposite sides of any truth in order to see the real picture. In addition to the philosophical concerns in my work, natural elements emerge that are symbols for my own growth.”  kimthoman.com

Tara Moorman

Tara Moorman creates beautiful and ethereal narrative paintings in the challenging medium of watercolor. When she submitted her entries to The Healing Power of ART 2020 she wrote, “I inherited boxes of my grandmother’s old family photos when my mother died — some dating back to the late 1880s. It was a very difficult time. I wanted to bring these people back to life with art. In the process, with healing intention, I had a conversation with each of them and healed wounds in the family linage, healed myself and all generations, past, present and future. I was not only inspired by the visuals but also by the stories behind the photos.”

The artist also shares, “In my creative process, I invite a connection to divine light, which the nineteenth-century poet William Blake called “Peculiar Light.” Blake believed that true freedom was based on the expression of each individual’s internal radiance.  By connecting to my inner light, I create in an attitude of oneness and unity that connects us all. I have found watercolor to be the best medium for the light radiance that I embody in my work.” taramoormanart.com