The Inside Coming Out: The History of Psychology Through Art Movements

 Lorianna Fernandez, Verrazzano Class of 2022, completed major in Art and minor in Psychology 

 

The time creating my capstone was filled with long days, long nights, self-doubt, short bursts where I felt confident in my work, and a very hard lesson in the utilization of proper ventilation using oil paints and solvents.

This process really made it pertinent that I had to get into the mindset of an artist of a certain movement. It had to go a step beyond simply imitating, to get the structure and elements across. It helped me as an artist figure out my own personal style and see my commonalities among the paintings, as well as things I felt uncomfortable with or would not do in my own work. I also gained an even deeper understanding of how psychology affects art and how the two are so similar.

In my psychology and art classes, I am always shocked at the polarizing amount of people who are involved in studying both avenues, some in hopes to combine them as a career, so it was charming to see that they have always been closely tied to each other.

If this topic was going to be further researched, there could definitely be more art movements incorporated. There are thousands of niche art movements dating from the Renaissance to now, and a lot of significant events in the realm of psychology that could be discussed. There could be a much lengthier introspection of artists in each movement and investigating their own personal lives and how their art movement reflects that as well as the significant trends in psychology at their time. I feel like this would be a very interesting look into the artists that we are familiar with but also ones we have not heard of yet. This was overall a really interesting and personally stimulating project and I am happy about everything I could take away from it.