Art Therapy as Profession and Practice with Guleus E'Xavier

***GUIDE ( Alive & Well ), Digital collage printed on archival paper, 8in x 12in, 2023.***

Guleus E'Xavier is an artist and designer based in Lexington, KY who sees art as a medium for healing. In his practice, he transmutes pain into compassion and finds ways to discover himself more deeply. He acknowledges healing as essential and ever-present to the human condition and is inspired to assist others in their own healing through Art Therapy. Guleus will be showing his latest works from June 6th through June 30th, 2023 at the Wills Gallery in Lexington, KY.

***Peel Back The Layers, 12in 12in, Digital collage printed on archival paper, 2023.***

Since we last spoke in March 2022, you’ve started to work in the field as an Art Therapist. How’s that going?

My journey into the realm of art therapy is progressing beautifully. Through this journey, I gradually came to understand that I was my own art therapist while simultaneously finding out about the significance and therapeutic potential of art through my training in art therapy and my own research. Since starting my practicum a few weeks ago, I've experienced this amazing and rewarding feeling after one of my full days of 1-on-1 sessions that made me realize I was living out my true purpose as a human with this new art therapy journey in addition to my own art exploration journey. This revelation surprisingly also matched my mantra and purpose statement that developed roughly eight years ago which is:“My purpose is to create, inspire, ( help ) heal myself and others.”

How do you balance your pursuit of your Art Therapy degree, your career as an Art Therapist, and your career as an artist / designer?

I'm still working on my balance with juggling all three of these areas of my life. All three take different energies so I'm slowly cultivating routines and rituals that will help me balance them all without neglecting one. Taking naps, taking walks, being in nature, crate digging, morning meditations, reading and curating relaxing playlists to unwind have been some of the top things I've been doing. I'm still learning and exploring new ways to recharge and balance daily. Simply stated: I'm a work in progress that's actually doing the work.

***Wise Words From Council ( Self Discovery ), Digital collage printed on archival paper, 9in x 12in, 2023.***

How does your recent personal growth and healing come across in your new work?

In my early works I was basically making beauty, darkness and chaos into beautiful imagery. I was subconsciously being my own therapist but speaking through symbolism and code, so the healing energy could be at the forefront and not the darkness I was going through. My newer work is coming from a much more healed and powerful space of understanding, alignment, balance and growth. It's not that I didn't have that same power before but it's more nurtured and controlled compared to my past work.

What’s something important you’ve learned about yourself while creating this body of work?

While creating this body of work, I've realized how much healing and self love I've cultivated from past tragedies, deaths and unfortunate circumstances that I carried on my soul and body for more years than I want to admit. I can see clearly and fully accept my gifts. I know how to work my alchemy for the greater good and can allow everyone to learn something from it for their perspective while getting a glimpse of my perspective (without it being too intrusive by using my symbolism and abstract approach).

***Palme noire de la Conscience ( Black Palm of Awareness ), Digital collage printed on archival paper, 12in x 18in, 2023.***

While preparing for your solo show at the Wills Gallery in Lexington, KY what inspired the title, “Layers?”

A lot of people don't realize that we are ever evolving multi dimensional individuals living a human experience that usually allows us over time to reinvent ourselves many times over our lifetime to help us understand ourselves, our surroundings, explore opportunities, etc. We all judge each other be it for comfortability, survival, etc but once you peel back the layers of that individual we usually find out that person is multifaceted not just what you thought of them from first view ( right or wrong ).