“The girl with no eyes is looking at me…” - It’s a Beautiful Day, 1969

This sculpture used to be based in the art therapy room at the old Mickelover site where the

art therapy programme in Derby was delivered. I am not sure who made her however she

used to prop the clock up in the room where the experiential groups were facilitated. When I

took on my role at the University 14 years ago she would be silently sitting in the space

literally holding time. She got little attention then as she was partly lost in the many other

objects within the space acting primarily as an elaborate means of holding a clock when a nail

would suffice. When we came to move sites after the sad closure of that campus I found her

sitting on top of a pile of objects thrown in a cupboard heading to a skip. Without much

thought I retrieved her and took her to the new campus. For many years after the move she

continued in her role providing a sense of continuity during many annual room changes. Once

the art therapy group found a more permanent home, due to the room needing to be ‘neutral’

she was required to live in a cupboard with the paper store and as such would get rolled out

to be present during the group assisting in delineating the space. Eventually I was able to

attach the clock to the wall and as such she lost her primary function in holding time and then

took on a new role of holding and containing the tissues within the group. This is how she

currently remains. As I am in the process of stepping down as Programme Leader for the MA

in Art Therapy and exploring leaving the University I am unsure about her future. She has

overseen the training of nearly all of the graduates from the Derby art therapy training since

2002. Only in the last few years where groups have been divided has she not had the privilege

to witness all of the trainee’s engagement with the demands of their training. I suspect when

I eventually leave she might accompany me however that is something that we are currently

discussing.

Nick Stein is a practicing art psychotherapist, musician and artist. He is particularly interested in dream imagery, the psychotherapy of cumulative trauma and the ideas of an archetypal psychology. Since 2004 he has been the programme leader for the MA in Art Therapy offered by the University of Derby and before that was working within Forensic Psychiatry.