For the past ten years, I have been working with different groups of women as a textile artist and designer, introducing textile art as a creative medium as well as a means of communication, interpersonal connection, personal growth, mental resilience, and general well-being.
I have always wanted to expand my practical work by supporting it with theory and research, but have never found enough time for such an enterprise. During the pandemics, while all my projects were suspended, it finally became possible for me to immerse myself in studying, reading, reflecton and drafting of this text.
The theoretical part of my thesis is a synthesis of my most essential findings of the past twenty years about the positive impact of textile handicrafts on the health and well-being of women, and its increasing use in art therapy in the recent period. To facilitate understanding, I present various traditional and modern practices of textile production, describe the importance of textiles as a tool for expression and communication, and trace the historical connection between women and textiles as a basis for modern engagement in textile. Research confirms that creative activities with textiles promote general well-being, increase overall quality of life, and positively impact health both in individuals and textile handicraft groups members. The effects of such creative endeavours tend to be even more prominent in times of increased stress and in circumstances where employment prospects, life opportunities, and social networking become limited.
In my work, I focus on several different vulnerable groups of women – elderly, chronically ill, survivors of sexual abuse, and immigrants from different cultural backgrounds. I also list the reasons why textile arts and crafts became a successful therapeutic, medical, and social tool.
To show how creating with textiles positively impacts women’s well-being, I have conducted an empirical survey with the senior participants of a multiyear textile project. I have combined several different approaches, which include the description of my own personal experience with a group of senior participants; the preliminary research based on structured one-on-one interviews; and the main research approach with narrative one-on-one interviews, which provided me with stories about participants’ personal experience and offered insights into the impacts and meaning of textile arts and crafts in their life, all in the light of a hermeneutic or explanatory analysis.
My study shows that the positive impacts of creative activities with textiles can be divided into four important fields: health and mental well-being (field 1), personal identity (field 2), learning, growth, and transition (field 3), and community, sharing, and belonging (field 4). Textile handcrafting encourages interaction and inclusion, provides personal, mental, and physical challenges, boosts self-confidence, and facilitates self-actualization, thereby contributing to a better quality of life during the aging period. Complete immersion in the creative endeavours makes the participants feel good, which further contributes to a meaningful existence and creates a sense of fulfilment. Involvement in textile-craft activities creates the continuity and support needed in times of life changes, transitions and transformations.
After almost ten years of creative work with textiles I have concluded my in-depth theoretical and qualitative empirical research, which confirms and describes the positive impacts of textile handcrafting on the well-being of individuals and communities. My intention is to promote its use in the art therapy of the future, where the power and potential of textile arts and crafts will be fully accepted, appreciated and taken advantage of.
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