Studio Persona
How this independent art studio is offering more than just art workshops.
Credit: Studio Persona
As I stepped out of the elevator on the third floor of an old building in one of the most buzzing neighborhoods of Bangkok, I was struck by a modern art-filled interior of the establishment while afternoon sunlight peeked through the gargantuan circle-shaped window at the end of the hallway. Then Prachayaporn "Pat" Vorananta, the founder of Studio Persona, greeted me with a smile and the most soothing voice I've ever heard. "The circle shape of the window represents wholeness," says Pat. "We purposely tried to reduce the sharp contour as we want people who come here to feel like they're surrounded with support," she tells me as she gives me a tour of the atelier. And I noticed that all three activity areas are connected by arched shape walls.
The space, which was a family's under-appreciated estate for over thirty years, is now a place where individuals can explore their artistic inclinations without fear of judgment. Pat states that the idea came to her when she was doing her dissertation about the design process of teaching art for her master's degree in Design for Creative Industry at Central Saint Martins.
"I remember I was teaching kindergarten kids taking film photographs, writing diaries, and telling stories through drawings. At one point, I started to see really delicate drawings that I knew had important messages in them. Even though I'm an art teacher, I didn't know how to respond or what to say," says Pat. "So, I did some research about psychology in art and found that there's a thing called 'art therapy,'" she continues. That's when she decided to get a second master's degree in Integrative Arts Psychotherapy at Institute for Arts in Therapy & Education.
At Studio Persona, aside from group expressive art therapy workshops that explore a wide variety of media, including visual arts, music, sand play, puppetry, poetry, and clay work that Pat facilitates herself, people can use the space and arrange their own workshops. You don’t need previous experience to join a particular class; the only thing required is imagination. “Some people, like movie directors or writers come here to find inspiration since they get to know themselves better and even another dimension of themselves they didn’t know existed,” says Pat.
Credit: Studio Persona
A private room is also available for clients who prefer to do one-on-one workshops using different mediums depending on how they feel that day. As I walked into a private studio room, my attention was immediately drawn to a sand tray on the table that looked just like one of those mini zen gardens in a therapy room you see in the movies. "Sometimes when the client doesn't want to talk, we will paint, write, craft cutting paper or use the sand tray as a medium," says Pat.
Participants can address and reflect on experiences, memories or even trauma by creating art. Positive psychology would be given at the end of each session so that people would leave the session feeling like they've properly managed their problems. "We work together to find possibilities in times of crisis, using art as a medium. For instance, if the participants say they feel like they're drowning while drawing a pond, I would suggest that we build some stairs so they can get out of the water. We use imagination to help lead to new solutions and new possibilities," Pat explains.
Even though the idea of Studio Persona is still considered relatively new to Bangkok's art scene, I'm sure it's here to stay. Bangkokians could definitely use art therapy to ease their minds in unsettling times like these, where the country is crumbling and the whole world is facing challenges.