School of Creative
Industries
Eliza Han
Eliza is an experienced educator and experimental artist who has worked with children and adolescents for over 20 years in various local schools, ranging from primary schools to junior college. Her credentials include a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese Studies (Hons), Postgraduate Diploma in Education, and Masters of Education in Chinese Language.
A mother of four children herself, she believes in the importance of creating a nurturing environment for children and adolescents to ensure their emotional, mental and physical well-being. Art therapy has become the means for her to reach out to clients who prefer a non-verbal mode of expression, and she has successfully worked with children and adolescents diagnosed with autism, attention deficit disorders and selective mutism through therapeutic art-making. She also works with clients and workshop participants on themes of personal growth, relationship and self-care. She enjoys connecting over coffee and drawing inspiration from Chinese culture.
Work
Strung by Fate
Mixed media installation
70 x 50 x 100 cm
2022
Strung by Fate is an experimental installation that represents the visceral connection between two people, intentional or otherwise. It traces the lines of emotional and physical tension in the air with red thread. The color red in Chinese culture symbolises auspiciousness, and is prominently featured in Chinese weddings. In Chinese folklore, two people connected by the red thread are destined lovers, regardless of space, time, or circumstances. Yet the relationship symbolised by the red thread may not always be blissful, but can also be intense, passionate, or even bloody.
The artwork explores the dual nature of connection, and the relationship between attachment and bondage. The strings interweave to form the outline of two Chinese terms that mean ‘attachment’（联结） and ‘bondage’（羁绊）. It is a visual metaphor of the emotional pull from connections that may either entrap one into entanglement or connect us to intimacy.
Thesis abstract
Caring for the carers: Relieving stress and preventing burnout for educators through art therapy in an educational institution for children in Singapore
The aim of this qualitative, practitioner-based thesis was to find out how art therapy can reduce stress and prevent burnout for educators within the setting of an educational institution for children. It is important to consider psychoeducation on self-care as a precursor to art therapy-informed workshops or any therapeutic art interventions, to destigmatise and normalise seeking self-care for educators. The introspective and intuitive nature of the mindfulness practice can be incorporated prior to the art-making process to facilitate and enhance the expressive and creative foundation of art therapy. The following factors have been found to be helpful in reducing stress and preventing burnout for educators: confidentiality, clarification of expectations, holding and containment of difficult emotions, mirroring, materiality, attunement, universality, safety and trust, together with acknowledgement and validation. Group art-making and joint art-viewing also helped to build a greater sense of connectedness and meaning-making. To normalise self-care workshops within the education profession, we can consider including self-care art therapy workshops in educational institutions as part of regular staff welfare and staff retreat programmes.