Sorċa Hubbuck
Project title: Exploring intersectional cultural humility among Australian art therapists.
Sorċa is an Australian-Irish artist and emerging art therapist with a background in performance, communications and theatre for social inclusion. Shapes, lines and colours (artmaking) give Sorċa a language to navigate through life’s ups and downs, just as studying Art Therapy has provided a language for orienting self, actions, values and footsteps toward a world where care is more accessible and genuinely inclusive.
Sorċa’s path to studying Art Therapy has been paved through the footsteps of lived experiences. Creativity has always re-emerged as an anchor and personal well of resourcefulness, and Sorċa’s creative practices are deeply informed by curiosity, imagination and process-and-discovery. There are inherent privileges with education and as a mental health professional, Sorċa recognises that the responsibilities implicit within therapeutic practice extend beyond the personal-professional sphere and encompass individual and collective action in response to the current socio-political context.
This research evolved from a personal reckoning with privilege and accountability. Intersectionality and cultural humility are foundational therapeutic lenses which encourage critical exploration of the multi-dimensional aspects of identity in relation to systemic privilege and oppression. Together, in acknowledging both culture and identity as dynamic, integrating these frameworks recognises learning as a life-long process with no endpoint.
Sorċa says: “I was both curious and challenged into exploring this topic. Engaging in intersectional inquiry is not an easy or comfortable undertaking and I have met strong resistance within myself throughout my research journey. What materialised through meeting this resistance was an understanding that I cannot expect to confront every bias alone; I must be open to being wrong, being accountable, learning from and alongside others. My research has initiated a critical and continual unravelling of internalised, learned binaries of right and wrong. Intersectional cultural humility is a deeply nourishing reorientation to practice which fosters appreciation for learning as ongoing, therefore positioning me as a student forever.
The artworks made throughout this research project reflect the emergence of tacit ways of knowing generated from the dual process of scientific and creative exploration. Sorċa often moves between mediums, exploring different processes and art materials. Sometimes artmaking involved working intuitively, using materials in response to a catalytic emotion or embodied sensation. Other times, artmaking encompassed tactile processes likened to map-making, following curiosity and resistance into unknown spirals of interconnection. Always, making art engendered reflection and illumination new understanding.
Collage, scissors, glue
30cm x 42 cm
Some of these collage images had been sitting in a box for years. Finally, they made it onto the page in an exploration of processing discomfort.
Watercolour and gouache on paper
30cm x 63cm
The emergence of the blue giraffe, a resonant living symbol throughout my research journey. This series of images were created in response to a fiery feeling.
Airdry clay, stick and acrylic paint
2cm x 8cm x 7.5cm
Making the symbol tangible, the blue giraffe accompanied me as I began to immerse myself in literature. I would later realise I needed the giraffes’ long neck for digestion, integration and perspective.
Acrylic on paper
30cm x 42cm
Maps, tapestry and systems of natural growth and reciprocity inspired my scaffolding of the project intervention. A safe and brave space would be required to invite participants to engage in the topic.
20+ double sided collaged cards (paper and textiles) on paper
Each card 7cm x 12cm
To meet resistance, I often create games to challenge myself. These cards, like intersectional cultural humility, are an ongoing process and practice. I imagine this collection will grow, with cards being added, removed and adapted, alongside my art therapy practice.
Watercolour on paper
30cm x 42cm
When stuck within the project, I turned to viewing art made across cultures and time as a vehicle for movement. Often this generated my own process of artmaking in response. This bathtub held together many stories in a reflective convergence.
Watercolour on paper
30cm x 42cm
From the metaphorical bathtub I emerged with a sense of readiness. Touching the burn is an embodied process that required a titrated pace and an anchored presence. The only fires I can tend to are the ones within myself.
Textas, black pen, watercolours and fingertips
21cm x 30cm
Béarla, with a capital ‘B’ translated from modern Irish (Gaeilge) means ‘English’. Originally, ‘béarla’ simply referred to ‘language’ or ‘speech’, especially foreign language. Language is power. It is both bridge and barrier; to be wielded with care.
Black pen and watercolour on paper
21cm x 30cm
Giraffes don’t have a singular story. Looking at giraffes in art, across cultures and time reveals a globally interconnected web woven throughout colonialism’s fractured history. These stories of mystery, fear, cruelty and wonder illuminate the curious paths of nocturnal discovery.