Figure 1. The exhibition’s lead image features water and an eel, paralleling the site’s ecological narrative. Isabella Duncan, Ophelia, 1998, acrylic on canvas, 1750 × 1440mm. From the Cunningham Dax Collection.

The exhibition features paintings, drawings and sculpture selected across five decades (1958–2012) from the Cunningham Dax Collection. The exhibition includes some works created in art therapy, and some that were not; however, the curation does not differentiate between the two. What draws these artists together is the way they use “art-making to find solace and inspiration in their own creative sanctuaries” (Dax Centre, 2023, p.1), with additional insights in personal statements from each artist in the digital catalogue.

In Creative Sanctuary, the Dax Centre faces the challenges that come with transitioning from the therapeutic setting to a gallery environment. Public exhibition of artwork created in art therapy can profoundly affect healing, for better or worse, as many art therapists have underscored (Barnes, 2012; McNiff, 2004; Vick, 2011). By showing artwork publicly, creators may find a renewed sense of agency and self-esteem, as their creative expressions and experiences are acknowledged and appreciated by others. It can also offer an opportunity for family, friends, and the community to participate in the healing process, while increasing awareness about art as a means for addressing emotional pain (Barnes, 2012).

But there are potential risks for artists sharing deeply personal experiences with the public, including feelings of vulnerability and the possibility of invalidation, misinterpretation, or misrepresentation that can exacerbate existing emotional distress (Barnes, 2012; McNiff, 2004).

The Cunningham Dax Collection contains over 16,000 works created by people with a lived experience of mental health issues or psychological trauma. Early works in this extensive collection were amassed by Dr Eric Cunningham Dax (1908–2008), a psychiatrist and early proponent of the use of art in psychiatric treatment.

With Dr Dax sourcing artworks from interactions with psychiatric inpatients – purportedly even collecting them from hospital bins – the Collection’s origins reflect a time when art therapy was used in ways that contemporary practitioners no longer endorse. Artworks were often used without the creators’ consent, in ways that perpetuated the pathologisation, institutionalisation, and stigmatisation of those with mental illness (Talwar, 2019). These issues are further complicated by Dr Dax’s use of and contributions to controversial psychiatric treatments, including lobotomy (“Eric Cunningham Dax”, 2024).

The difficult history of the Dax Collection is not lost on its custodians, who have put considerable effort towards remediating the troubling manner in which early artworks were acquired. Now, the Centre accepts artworks by bequest and donation directly from artists with lived experience of mental illness, and has contacted all artists in the Collection for consent, Gallery Co-ordinator Emily Winslade tells me.

Creative Sanctuary explores the therapeutic benefits of art-making for artists, and the resulting narratives offer a range of insights – which are shaped in large part by the accompanying statements.

These statements primarily focus on the artists’ personal backgrounds, often including details about past traumas and diagnoses. In the right context, this can certainly be empowering: to some, however, this could feel like a risky degree of disclosure in a public setting, where artists are identified by name. It is not clear whether these statements were prepared in a therapeutic context as Vick (2011) recommends, but regardless, this degree of detail doesn’t seem essential for audience engagement.

But the arts-based reflections, especially those focusing on the symbolism of the making process, are fascinating, such as Jacqueline King’s comment on her copper-foil glass work. “I am making things of great beauty out of shattered parts, very slowly and with great patience and love, much like I am trying to rebuild my own life” (Dax Centre, 2023, p.4).

Through an art therapy lens, there is a rich representation of therapeutic mechanisms at play.

Emma McEvoy uses photography to symbolise and communicate experiences that are not easily put into words, saying, “struggling to articulate myself in therapy, I found solace in creating images that would act as bridges between my world and this world” (Dax Centre, 2023, p.6). She describes her experience of recovery through surreal landscapes, where oversize paper cranes and figures in bubbles juxtapose stormy seas (Figure 2).