August 30, 2018
Andrea Sutrick is entering her final year in the Master of Arts in the Art Therapy program at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. She most values her AATA membership for the affordable liability insurance, networking at the annual conferences, access to the Journal, and because it “provides me the reassurance that if and when I need assistance, I can get connected to other art therapists in the AATA community.” Following a successful career in business, Sutrick discovered a spiritual connection within her Christian community and sought to use her gift of artmaking to help others through the healing process.
Mrs. Sutrick’s experience as a firefighter wife inspired her thesis, “A Body-Mind-Spirit Art Therapy (BMS-AT) Intervention for Stress Reduction in Firefighter Spouses.” She is passionate about the field because, in her view, “art therapy helps clients achieve balance, cohesion, and connection to their whole being by employing a mind-body-spirit approach.” Visit Sutrick’s website to learn more.
“Witnessing the Wash Cycle” by Andrea Sutrick. Watercolor & Ink. May 2018.
Artist’s Statement: Artmaking and the resulting image is both a process and product giving us glimpses into our deepest selves, aspiring for understanding and ultimate meaning-making. In my response, Witnessing the Wash Cycle, clotheslines evoke a time in the past, when things were simpler. A machine was not necessary to dry our clothes, for the wind from Mother Nature provided the movement to naturally dry and freshen. The very act of taking dirty clothes and making them “new” again, metaphorically describes the unspoken action of art in therapy; for, each blemish, smell, and stain can be washed anew as client and therapist work the load. Even with a stain that sticks, we can work through acceptance and weave or transform the blemish in our life. As a sensory experience, the tactile touch of light linen, cotton, and heavy denim to the smells of disgust to freshness, can tap into a multi-sensory experience encouraging expression. Further, the act of hanging wet clothes provides therapeutic distance to safely view and reflect on one’s act of cleansing. Time after time, we can witness the wash cycle, as old pains are cleansed and brought into the light of day within community. Ahh, the sweet smell of clean is released as we cuddle in its cherished gifts of fluff. As a clothes-timeline, each article depicts my earliest infant blanket; white towels as I become myself in my young adult skin; and then concrete ideals are challenged again as I unite with my path to becoming an art therapist.
My shadow side falls to the ground but necessarily balances the needed oppositions to propel my current growth. The skies and winds of change harken in a new skin. Again, I fall back into my wash cycle, using art as therapy, dropping into my basket, the muddy laundry of past transgressions, forgiveness needs, familial balances, and societal concerns. I accept that dirty laundry never ends, but is my process of continual self-renewal, an opportunity to start again. Seeing the totality of life, a simple clothesline prepares for rejuvenation and dreams of a new day in my practice of art therapy.