A dynamic approach to the interpretation of artwork by psychiatric patients based upon the aesthetic theories of Rudolph Arnheim

The primary goal of this research is to demonstrate a dynamic and integrative method, unique to art therapy, of interpreting psychiatric patient's artwork. The method involves an interpretive process that requires integration of information gathered during the art making process with the art product itself for the purpose of deriving a complex psychological portrait of the creator. The following factors, based on the aesthetic theory advocated by Rudolph Arnheim, explore aesthetic and psychological properties, inherent and inseparable in art: (1) Different approaches in interpreting images; (2) The role of intuition in viewing art; (3) The dynamic quality inherent in art; (4) The semantic implication of art; (5) The role of language in interpreting art. The study demonstrates that such an approach to interpreting artwork yields insights into the patient's psychic world that are more comprehensive than those gained by the reductive method of equating a specific diagnosis to particular elements within an image.; Unlike the reductive method of interpreting patient's artwork which mostly focuses on diagnosis, this dynamic approach focuses on complex human psychodynamics that may not be simply defined. The outcome, often multi-layered, allows the interpreter to reach several different hypotheses about a patient.; The research deals with only two-dimensional artwork, created by adult psychiatric patients. In order to present an explicit mechanism of pictorial interpretation, this study discusses two components of art; (1) The formal elements; and (2) The thematic element of an image. These components of the images are compared and contrasted in order to understand the discrepancies between the conscious and unconscious pictorial expressions observed among the patients' artwork.; This research addresses its goal by presenting an explicit mechanism of interpretation illustrated with over one hundred fifty patient artworks categorized according to the two components mentioned above. It also examines the symbolic implications and pictorial dynamics in wide range of patient artwork.; One of a main findings of the research is that a dynamic approach to interpreting artwork focuses on the complex psychological world of patients rather than simply identifying a list of symptoms for the purpose of categorical diagnosis.