Does having art actually improve mental health?
What are the benefits for having original art in your home? We tend to furnish our homes with all sorts; photos of family holidays, the kids when they were wee. Perhaps you have an impressive collection of mostly unread books, or an army of unruly houseplants. Whatever adornments you choose for your home, adding original artwork can certainly be a meaningful way to show off your personality among your decorative trimmings. But what about to intangible aspects of original art, the side less understood, the psychological benefits?
Reducing Anxiety and Stress
A research study in Norway examined how art benefits a person’s health and found that viewing art saw lower rates of anxiety and depression and higher satisfaction with one’s life. The study questioned 50,000 people, excitingly for those of us who lack the inclination or talent to pick up a paintbrush ourselves, the research concluded that viewing art provided much of the same health benefits as creating it. Looking at art can cause increases in dopamine, the pleasure hormone, to be released, which helps to reduce stress and in turn leads to lowered rates of anxiety and depression.
Spring, Lynsey MacKenzie
Improve cognitive thought
The process of finding art you enjoy and wish to collect can be a process of self-discovery. Art tells a story, and often one you have to look for and uncover by yourself, allowing you to get a sense of how you see the world and the memories and emotions that different work evokes from you. Original art has had time, skill and storytelling poured into its creation. When you invest in a piece of art you invest in something that will stir thoughts and emotions in you, challenge you to understand, and give so much more meaning than something bought to simply fit the aesthetic of your front room. In fact, research suggests that engaging with art could improve memory, and is being trialled to help people with Alzheimer's disease stay connected to their memories.
Ferns by Kristina Chan
Explore Human Connection
Art is also something that connects us with others. Each brushstroke is a creative expression by the artist, and hopefully when we appreciate art, we are connecting to the emotions we perceive to be hinted at in the work. Art starts conversations -this is not a new idea - but nonetheless the silent communication that passes from artist to art to viewer is a form of subtle connection where we are asked to interpret meaning for ourselves rather than having it spelled out for us with the clarity of words. We can see how people lean towards these creative forms of expression during turbulent times when you look at how the rise in hashtags on Instagram such as #quarantineart (nearly 600k posts).
Many of us have spent much more time in our homes during the last year, staring over the top of our computer screens at empty stretches of wall. Starting small and investing in a single piece of art may give your space a focus point and express your personality and taste and knowing some of the intangible benefits of having art in the home, should give you clarity that this often ambiguous medium with no utilitarian function may be good for you and the love ones to live with.
Words: Grace Barclay