HELLO, I’M SHAN
I’ve been working as a creative producer and project manager in the arts since 2008; and since 2017 as an art psychotherapist. I have a degree in anthropology, with postgraduate studies in documentary photography and am interested in visual narratives connected to personal identity, community and social justice. I am registered with both the Health and Care Professions Council and the British Association of Art Therapists.
I bring together the above experiences using an empathetic, creative and person-centred approach, providing me with a rich and powerful way to cultivate ideas and encourage new debates. In my own artmaking, I’m attracted to the abstract, using materials such as collage and clay that can be easily moved and manipulated. Akin to how I would use a camera, these materials can be composed, framed and reframed, with the focus on experimentation and play.
After working as a therapist in schools for several years, I now manage a service in the NHS that uses the arts for wellbeing for adults with complex needs. On a freelance basis, I manage arts projects and deliver wellbeing workshops that use creativity to positively affect physical and mental health, with an ethos of radical rest at their core.