Page 119 - ART FORM AND MENTAL HEALTH - Ingrid Pénzes

(DAPA) (Hacking, 1999), and “figuration” can be related to “color fit” in the Formal Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) (Gannt & Tabone, 1998). In this study, we compare the formal elements from art theories with the formal elements art therapists found to be clinically relevant. “Figuration” was excluded, as art theories state that this element cannot be analyzed according to the level of its presence in an art product. Instead it is a categorical item that refers to the style of the art product as realistic, figurative, or abstract.
Method
A panel consisting of three teachers from the art therapy program of Zuyd University of Applied Sciences compared the formal elements identified by art therapists in the prior study to the formal elements that were identified in study 1 and found to be reliable in study 2. Each expert independently compared the formal elements on a scale ranging from “0 = no similarities”, “1= some resemblance” and “2 = similar or almost similar”. The comparison concerned which formal elements were similarly described. Formal elements identified by both art therapists and art theorists were considered as reliable and clinically relevant.
Results
The panel agreed that the formal elements “contour”, “movement”, “dynamic” and “mixture of color” were similarly described (see Table 3). “Color saturation” was described differently because the art therapists had merged “color saturation” and “texture”. The way the art therapists described “repetition” showed overlap with the formal elements “symmetry” and “rhythm” in art theory.
In summary, it was found that “movement”, “dynamic”, “contour” and “mixture of color” could be measured reliably and appeared to also be clinically relevant. A fourth study was then conducted to see whether these formal elements are related to mental health.
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