School of Creative
Industries
Stephanie Tan
Stephanie is a versatile multimedia artist and art psychotherapist. Combining her passion for motion graphics and art psychotherapy, Stephanie incorporates motion graphics as a tool to objectify her experiences in her work.
During her time in the MA Art Therapy programme, Stephanie had the opportunity and privilege to work at a leading local hospital with children and adolescents experiencing non-accidental injuries – ranging from suicidal ideation, self-harm behaviours, physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse, to various mental health disorders.
These experiences have heavily influenced and inspired Stephanie's work, which explores various misunderstood mental health concepts and the stigma around individuals experiencing and living with mental health disorders. Stephanie's work carries and reflects her emotional and psychological development in her evolving professional identity. This two-year journey has been a rewarding and inspiring one for Stephanie as she strives to continue to advocate for the vulnerable community and this emerging field of art therapy.
Work
AM I CRAZY?
Text animation. Loop.
2022
This artwork emphasises and questions various misconceptions and stigmas around individuals experiencing and living with mental health challenges. The artist carefully processes difficult conversations expressed and posted by her clients through curated animated texts in her work.
The distorted looping of the text ‘AM I CRAZY?’ mimics the constant thoughts going through the mind of an individual experiencing and living with mental health challenges. This work was created with an intention to provoke and confront the audience to reflect on their views regarding various misunderstood mental health concepts and the stigma around them.
This artwork carries and reflects the artist’s emotional and psychological response to her evolving professional identity.
Thesis abstract
The role of response art: An art-based qualitative enquiry by an art therapist trainee providing time-limited art therapy with adolescents experiencing abuse in a Singapore hospital
This practitioner-based, qualitative, multiple-case vignette thesis examines how response art-making can support art therapist trainees working with adolescents experiencing abuse in Singapore. Metaphorical links were drawn between the art therapist trainee’s response art and the client's artwork. The case vignettes demonstrate how response art is utilised to support trainees with processing emotions, exploring levels of consciousness, and deepening their therapeutic relationships with clients.