Creative mind healing

A masters degree in art psychotherapy and a firm belief in the power of creativity to heal inspired artist and entrepreneur Gigi Leung to set up an art therapy studio, Not a Gallery, in Fortress Hill on the north shore of Hong Kong Island.

In the studio clients can express their emotions through art - sketching, painting and sculpting their way to better mental health under Ms Leung’s tutelage. A graduate of the School of Creative Media at the City University of Hong Kong, Ms Leung curated exhibitions and cultural activities for those with disabilities at the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and worked as an art psychotherapist in London before opening Not a Gallery. She offers one-to-one sessions and group workshops to a diverse range of clients - from victims of bullying to dementia sufferers. The studio has also hosted corporate groups looking to connect with colleagues, encouraging them to embrace their creative side.

With Hong Kong currently under strict social distancing measures, the studio’s groups, which address anger management and addiction among other mental health issues, have been temporarily stopped, although Ms Leung is still hosting some one-on-one sessions with some clients.

She believes artistic creation can be the most primitive and honest expression of one’s thoughts. “The Chinese community is quite supressed, and parents rarely credit us in our culture – they would say, ‘maybe you can do better’. We learn how to say things beautifully rather than wholeheartedly, and the verbal ability to describe our feelings is not as good as we think,” she said.

She also trusts art can help people gain a greater understanding of themselves and their character. “Some people are very determined, while others are more hesitant; even when they are choosing the colours [before painting], there might be so much hesitation, which stems from fear of making the wrong choices. You are seeing their macro environment from a very micro action,” explained Ms Leung. Clients who suffer from depression, for example, may express what that actually means to them by using very solid or heavy materials to illustrate how those feelings weigh them down, while others may go beyond the frame of their picture to express abstract, two-dimensional thoughts and feelings.

Ms Leung saw demand increase about 20% after the pandemic broke in Hong Kong. “More people are suffering from panic attacks and anxiety, and many are lonely and facing uncertainties. They are cooped up in small spaces and come to see me to take a break and have their own private time so they don’t have to deal with family issues,” she said.

Sessions are tailored according to clients’ needs. “With teens and kids, it might be anger management. Kids don’t always know how to verbalise why they are angry, so we ask what causes the outburst in the first place and how we can control that anger,” explained Ms Leung. “This could involve something like creating a volcano to demonstrate how anger feels, then asking them to write one sentence about why they are mad. One kid wrote, ‘hurry up, be quick!’ as he said his mum is always rushing him, and this angers him.”

As adults tend to be more passive and hesitant with the artwork, Ms Leung often incorporates mindfulness activities into the sessions to get the creative juices flowing. “Sometimes I ask them to eat an apple, then with each bite draw a line on a giant piece of drawing paper. After they’ve drawn the line, everyone takes another bite and savours the flavour before they return to their drawing and find their own pace,” she said.