Sibel Ozer, an artist that runs a process painting group in Southeastern Michigan, used mindfulness to guide her class. She engaged in process of keeping focused on the present moment with her group. Just as you would refocus your mind to your breath when engaging in a breathing technique, Ozer encouraged the group to refocus their thoughts to the canvas in front of them, letting each moment guide their artwork. She began with a colorful piece of work in the first week allowing herself to do what felt right instead of planning what she thought others would like. In the second week, she covered her canvas in black, but allowed her inner critic to judge her work. She voiced this to her group and allowed the process to begin again. In her blog on The Crazy Wisdom Community Journal, Ozer states, “It occurred to me that everything is birthed out of the dark; that it is out of the void that things begin to emerge. With that rephrase I was able to stay with the black as long as I needed.” She added a snake, which she mentions is a symbol of transformation and eventually the face of Kuan Yin, who in Buddhist beliefs, is the goddess of mercy and compassion. She shares that the process of painting is in its nature a very mindful activity. The artist must be focused on the work in front of them and rid themselves of past and future influences. Being mindful means being in the present moment nonjudgmentally. To fully free themselves, an artist will need to create art without judgement, which is also plays a major role when practicing mindfulness.
I never thought that people could connect mindfulness to different activities such as art. After seeing the process that Sibel Ozer took during her artwork, I now see how the ideas behind mindfulness work hand in hand with art. Ozer also mentions that our mind sometimes allows critical thoughts to come through. These are thoughts of the past influences and future worries which is not being in the present. This was an interesting notion to me as I now see how our self-criticism can be harmful to the mindfulness process. Through Ozer’s art, I deepened my understanding of what mindfulness is and what it can be used for.
Ozer, S. (2015). Process Painting and Mindfulness [Painting found in The Women’s Center of Southeastern Michigan]. Retrieved July 08, 2019, from http://www.crazywisdomjournal.com/blog/2015/5/18/painting-as-a-mindfulness-practice
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