Reframing Mental Illness: Exploring How Art Brut Narratives Have Changed Public Perceptions of Mental Disabilities in China

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Date

2025-05

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

The Ohio State University

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Journal Issue

Abstract

Coined by French artist Jean Dubuffet in the 1950s, Art Brut refers to works by self-taught artists, prisoners, and individuals with mental illnesses, challenging mainstream art through raw, undisciplined styles and redefining authenticity. By 2025, this art form has spread globally, with art therapy centers enabling individuals with mental illnesses to express unspoken feelings and thoughts through non-interventional creation processes. Aligning with Dubuffet's definition of art, creation in art therapy also helps patients re-socialize with a new identity: Art Brut artists. This study examines an art therapy center in Nanjing, China, focusing on how Art Brut therapy reconstructs the social identities of individuals with mental disabilities by "artifying" their works, reshaping public perceptions of mental illness, and eventually challenging stigmas against mental disability patients. Using qualitative methods, such as literature review and semi-structured interview, and Natural Language Processing like sentiment analysis, and semantic network analysis, it analyzes published materials, the research indicates that the narrative of Art Brut therapy promotes positive public images for individuals with mental disabilities, seeing them as the representation of "nature" and "culturally un-disciplined", contrasting with stereotypical portrayals in Chinese media that depict them as dangerous or uncontrollable. Framing them as the "positive Other" suggests the potential romanticization of mental illness. At the same time, the semi-interviews with social workers there are used to reveal the effect of destigmatization of mental disability patients in daily social interactions. This research highlights how Art Brut therapy replaces stigmatizing narratives with empowering representations, sheds light on the lives of individuals with mental disabilities in China and reflects the development of Art Brut and art therapy in this context. It calls for greater awareness of mental health and demonstrates Art Brut's global potential to challenge stigma.

Description

Keywords

Citation