Winnicott Wednesdays-Artist Collective

10 artist who formed  Winnicott Wednesdays in 2010, whilst training to become art psychotherapists at Goldsmiths University began to meet most weeks (usually on a Wednesday) to debrief on their personal and collective experiences of the course; to try to make sense of psychoanalysis and art; and to attempt to reconcile the ongoing, often conflicting nature of the dual roles of artist and art therapist. As we negotiated our quite often baffling emotional reactions and responses to the subject matter of the training. we began to form friendships... these regular meetings became known as ‘Winnicott Wednesdays’. The group is an open collective of like minded individuals working together to create art and continue our discourse.

Their first group exhibition is opening this week
Traces: The Unthought Known

In 'The Shadow of the Object', psychoanalyst Bollas (1987) considers the aesthetic moment, reverential and awesome, is actually a 'crystallised' moment in time and space related to our first aesthetic experience; the maternal holding environment. His seminal work explores the idea of memories known but unthought and traces of these memories we all hold, benevolent or otherwise. They are essentially wordless states from a time before language sponsored by the mother.

Art psychotherapy, being primarily a non-verbal therapy, has the potential to uncover these phenomena that seem to determine the way we are in the world. Through dream work, image making and projective identification, (that is, the therapists ability to ‘hold’ what cannot be ‘thought about’), it can become possible to unlock the deep, felt experiences that reside in the unthought known.

The work by the artists in this exhibition reflects this interesting juncture between consciousness and the unthought known - each artist has responded and commented in their own idiosyncratic way.

The Darnley Gallery
1a Darnley Road
Hackney E9 6QH

17 - 21 February 2014

Private ViewWednesday
19 February 5-9pm