Art, Trauma, and Somatics

Art, Trauma, and Somatics: Healing in the Paint Splatter Room

In Chemistry professor Jes Bolduc’s First Year Seminar, “Practical Magic: The History, Philosophy, and Art of Chemical Alchemy,” 16 students journeyed to Culture W-S in the Liberty Plaza Building to co-create a collaborative art piece. Through the semester students learned about ancient alchemical goals and how those motivations of inquiry have rippled across time to impact science, culture, and society, even today. Inspired by Jung’s view of alchemy as metaphor for internal transformation and tied to lessons on neuroscience and trauma decreasing brain activity in areas responsible for imagination and creativity, the students studied how somatics and art can offer biochemical/biophysical healing of trauma.

This event was a special moment where the students got to embody what they learned, combining their knowledge, feeling, and imagination in a collaborative, cathartic experience.