Current Exhibition

The Art of Making Sense

The Art of Making Sense is an exhibition of artworks drawn from the Cunningham Dax Collection created by individuals who have experienced mental illness and/or psychological trauma. The exhibition shows the multi-faceted nature of such art, focusing on the historical, aesthetic, biographical and psychological dimensions of the artists' creative works.

The exhibition includes over 70 creative works, mostly drawings on paper, but including paintings, collages, textiles and sculptures, created between the 1950s and today, many created in the context of creative art therapy. Historic photographs and artefacts provide a glimpse into the asylum experience in Victoria in the 1950's and 60's.

The exhibition is part of a broader research project which aims to develop an ethical, multi-dimensional framework for exhibiting art by people who experience mental illness and/or psychological trauma, and has been funded through an Australian Research Council Linkage grant.

The works in the exhibition have been selected to show that people with mental illness and psychological trauma create artworks that relate to the broader social context, to ideas of creativity, to the life stories of their creators, as well as to psychological experience. Whereas in the past either clinical or aesthetic qualities have been emphasised in exhibitions of such work, this display will show how the works relate to these issues but also to a much broader range of themes and concerns.

The exhibition tells a number of different stories about the art, moving beyond the familiar narratives of medical explanation and aesthetic value, to explore the way in which art by people with experience of mental illness and/or trauma relates to history, biography, ethics, and creativity. The exhibition is broken up into five themes: The Inner World; The Outer World; Biography; Trauma; and Creativity.

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“The Inner World” shows the ways in which interior mental states have a bearing on the production of art. This section of the exhibition includes art by people who have undergone a range of often extreme mental experiences, including depression, mania and others. Viewers will be shown how the artists themselves conceived of the images they created and how they were expressive of their inner world.

“The Outer World” demonstrates that art by people with experience of mental illness and trauma often relates to the world outside the inner world of the mind. The works chosen show how artists concerned themselves with everyday events in the broader social sphere, including the 1956 Olympics, the Cold War, Football Games, public transport. Other works concentrate on the experience of being hospitalized and document both the negative and positive aspects of the institution. This section of the exhibition is accompanied by documents relating to the experience of living in psychiatric hospitals.

“Biography” showcases the works of two individuals, both accomplished artists, and demonstrates how their works relates to their own personal history and experience, as well as to artistic traditions that interested. Viewers will be able to see both a personal narrative in these works as well as the influence of famous artists, including Albert Tucker and Vincent Van Gogh.

The “Trauma” section of the exhibition emphasise one individuals journey through a recovery from psychological trauma. The works emphasise the positive steps the individual takes in their efforts to be healed and embark on a new life beyond the experiences of the past.

“Creativity” explores in what way works by people with experience of mental illness and/or psychological trauma can be considered to embody creativity. Viewers will see how there are many different ways in which one might consider such works to be “creative,” whether in terms of artistic skill, innovation in materials and techniques, or transformation of aesthetic traditions.

The exhibition, which aims to show the multi-dimensional nature of the art by people with experience of mental illness and/or psychological trauma, also poses a number of questions of the viewer. One of the debates surrounding this art is whether such works, which often deal with intimate or personal subjects, or were created in private contexts such as therapy, should really be shown in public.

Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to consider this question, as well as other debates about the nature of creativity, the relationship between art and emotion, and the most appropriate ways to display what is often sensitive material.

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