Lisa Jordan

Project title: Sticks and Stones: How does reflecting on others responses to my mild facial disfigurement influence my practice as an arts therapist?

Lisa has been involved in the arts and working with youth for a large period of her life. As an artist she practices across all mediums and has had work exhibited in several galleries, both nationally and internationally. Also trained as a visual scribe – working on various workshops such as the UQ and Uniting Care Empowering Children research project – the use of text features in many of Lisa’s works.

Lisa’s work crossed into the youth and trauma fields in 2010, at the same time she left the professional art world seeking a different experience. Working with rural and First Nations families and children at risk in community development, and creative and adaptive program writing in the parenting and life development skills areas, it was a natural fit to eventually combine both areas and move into the world of Art Therapy.

Seeing the benefit of creative expression open to others has been an inherently rewarding and interesting journey.

Fairytales and dreams have something in common, so this series reflects on the process through making use of the concepts of the happy ending and the dark depths and peculiarities of the dream.

It explores Lisa’s doubts and feelings regarding the thesis process journey. The spark that initiated the journeys beginning, from out of the ashes of the past followed by her doubts about age and capacity making an appearance in the Wolf, questioning herself and her motivations.

Baby bear appeared at Lisa’s lowest point, the point of possible withdrawal, overwhelmed and finding it hard to see any light. The approval of her ethics application resulted in a reflection based in wonder, the ethics application detour had added an additional layer to the ‘trip’.

Dances with dogs celebrates the possibilities and endings. It reflects on the dance of those who hear a different beat, and lastly, Was it a dream? Reflects on the entire process. This too shall pass and become a memory. It will have left its mark and its magic in ways that Lisa is still to discover.

The culmination and synthesisation of all the work produced while completing a heuristic art- based study that looked at responses to facial disfigurement through the lens of self-portraiture, and the final representation of the journey. Many fairytales place the disfigured in the part of the villain, as do we, a conversation worth having.

This series is an exploration of my feelings and thoughts on undertaking thesis research in order to complete a Masters of Mental Health – Art Therapy. The research artwork was completed alongside my commentary artworks, and provided a distance and perspective from the project, that was supportive as I explored a sensitive subject.