Artists are like race car drivers–although they’re praised for their skill, their performance is largely determined by what goes on under the hood of the automobile. And for artists, this is an area almost no one understands.
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Shindler, a speech pathologist, has been thinking about the brain’s role in creativity for more than a decade, ever since she began working with a 20-year-old woman named Carol Frankel, whose brain bad been badly damaged by a cerebral hemorrhage. The blood vessel burst in the brain’s left hemisphere, where the rational, logical abilities are located. Her speech was destroyed, the right side of her body severely weakened.
But as she recovered, something surprising happened. Although the young woman had never before exhibited any artistic ability, she suddenly developed an impressive talent for painting. After a few lessons, she began to produce landscapes and seascapes, and even three sophisticated portraits–all with her left hand (she had been right-handed).
Many other speakers promise insights into the brain. Don Seiden, an artist and art therapist at the School of the Art Institute, will offer “an artist’s introspection” on how the brain works. Art historian Susan Taylor will discuss Jackson Pollock, whose innovative paintings may have been influenced by alcohol-induced brain damage. Betty Edwards, author of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, will explain her technique for gaining access to the mind’s creative, intuitive abilities. Anthropologist L.G. Freeman of the University of Chicago will speculate on what prehistoric art can tell us about the evolution of the human brain. Nancy Andreasen, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Iowa, will discuss the incidence of manic depression among artists, while art historian Mary Mathews Gedo will speak on “The Healing Power of Art: Goya as His Own Physician.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/John Sundlof.
