Art is a form of communication that pre-dates written and verbal language and has been used for tens of thousands of years to communicate our place in the world; our ideas, feelings and perceptions. Psychology has also found that using image making allows people to externalise and understand that which otherwise they have found difficult and/or impossible to articulate. Art Therapists use this approach to great effect.
When thoughts are pushed aside, spontaneous images can emerge: symbolic aspects of the self in need of recognition
Liesl Silverstone, Art Therapy – The Person Centred Approach