The Edge of Becoming: Drawing Between Departure and Arrival

Client Context

A New Zealand-born English teacher and YouTuber, currently adjusting to his new life in Taiwan. Despite a past marked by substance dependency and underemployment, he carries a sharp intellectual curiosity, a love for music, books, and global affairs.

In his previous life, commercial constraints and personal habits led to misalignment between potential and reality. Now, three months into a sober and substance-free life in Taiwan – where he was encouraged to relocate by his sister – he is seeking clarity, distance from past temptations, and a new sense of grounding.

This was his first spontaneous therapeutic art session since arriving.

Session Intention

• To provide a silent visual space beyond language and performance.
• To invite grounding in the new landscape — from rooftop view to internal state.
• To explore the “view from here” — literally and emotionally.
• To use artistic creation as a reflective surface for a newly forming self.

Materials & Process

Materials：canvas, oil paintings, graphite sticks
Process：
• Session took place on the client’s rooftop, facing the mountain region of his new neighborhood.
• The session included live guitar improvisation, reflective conversation, and intuitive drawing.
• Duration: 3 hours (art-making + music + dialogue)

Artwork Description

The painting presents a layered horizontal compositio.

Upper Third：Soft, fluid green mountain forms – layered with gentle motion, creating depth
Middle Layer：Sharp, block-like gray architecture suggesting rigidity and control
Foreground：Unadorned black lines, slicing through the image, suggesting boundary, history, or residue

Despite the idyllic landscape, the artwork contains a stark duality: tranquility interrupted by constructed tension.

Therapeutic Insights

The image presents a tension between aspiration and containment:

• The mountains – free-flowing and organic – symbolize the possibility of internal peace and renewal.
• The gray blocks – representing both physical buildings and metaphorical structures — echo past limitations.
• The act of sitting atop these buildings to draw what lies beyond them creates a symbolic shift: “I am now above the place that once trapped me.”

There is no direct representation of the self in the drawing – instead, the perspective from the body becomes the subject. This suggests a shift from performative identity to observant presence.

The guitar session organically wove memory and release, with music acting as both anchor and exhale.

Integration & Continuation

The client was encouraged to revisit the painting over time – not to finish it, but to let it evolve:

“What else might grow between the mountain and the city?
What does your breath want to build here?”

He was also invited to create a new piece next month – not as a sequel, but as a ‘next window.’