I think it’s important to make our interior spaces super healthy and delightful, and I believe today’s evidence-based art can do just that.
Among many other things, I’ve seen art used to blend colors in a room, act as a visual means of communicating impact/expression, or just function as some kind of wall decoration.
Personally, I like my art to work—to actually do something—for me. In my home spaces, I think it’s important to add art that creates health and wellness and delights me in every way.
Can art really do this? I think so and many credible research studies designed for the healthcare industry back this up. Here are some examples from an excellent book, “Transforming the Healthcare Experience Through the Arts” by Blair L. Sadler and Annette Ridenour.
“Of the many kinds of arts programs offered within the healthcare setting, the most common is art hung on the walls of corridors, patient rooms, and other areas.”
“Facilities with arts programs cited several advantages, including increased patient satisfaction, a more positive healing environment, better physical and emotional recovery, improved community relations, and support for hospital staff.”
One evidence-based study even reported: “Patients on a trauma and orthopedics ward who were exposed to visual arts and live music had shorter stays and needed significantly less pain relief than patients in a control group.”
In our super modern world, I think we’re missing out on all kinds of wellness benefits by not looking at art as a healing agent. I absolutely LOVE abstract art and I create quite a bit of it, but sometimes I find even my paintings too jarring, too disturbing, and sometimes even violent.
System Failure by Dorothea Sandra
Looking at the lines of System Failure and The Green Door, you can see they move and cut, almost like a jagged knife or saw. I created these paintings to make a statement. The Green Door, in particular, was created to show the many obstacles, frustrations and violence we are passing through in order to return to a green planet. (My father was great at creating violent ocean waves smashing against New England rocks. When I was 7 or 8, he taught me how to move the paint on the canvas to create violence.)
System Failure by Dorothea Sandra
The Green Door by Dorothea Sandra
The Green Door by Dorothea Sandra
Both paintings make social statements, and that’s their purpose. However, for rest, relaxation, and recovery, I create (and enjoy in my own household) art based on credible evidence-based medical research studies. I only use the colors and shapes and textures known to encourage wellness and positive health outcomes.
Flowers Dancing With The Sky by Dorothea Sandra
Heartfelt Flowers by Dorothea Sandra
A Bouquet Of Love For You by Dorothea Sandra