School of Creative
Industries
Svetlana Fedotova (Lana)
Lana has embarked on art psychotherapy training following her interest in psychology and personal art practice, seeking fulfilment in a helping profession.
With a prior career in finance, having lived in four different countries and being a parent, she is interested in working cross-culturally with all ages, and examining our inherent human need for connection through a multicultural lens.
During her time in the MA Art Therapy programme at LASALLE College of the Arts she had the opportunity to expand her clinical experience, providing group therapy and individual therapy services to adolescents and adults recovering from mental health conditions in a rehabilitative setting, as well as older adults in a nursing home.
Lana is drawn to painting—especially portraiture—using acrylics and watercolours. However, she has also expanded her artistic practice, and enjoys experimenting with different media.
Work
Reflections
Acrylic on mirrors and plaster hand casts
Dimensions variable
(2025)
Reflections explores how we perceive reality. What might it be like for individuals with mental health conditions—particularly schizophrenia—to experience a different sense of self, and consequently, a different connection with the external world?
Art therapy and the therapist’s empathy (enabled by mirror neurons in our brain) can support the reintegration of self and the reconciliation of realities. Mirroring—as a process of validation and affirmation—reassures clients that their feelings are important.
Broken mirrors can reveal a distorted version of reality—one that shifts depending on the viewer’s position. Yet, the shards still perform their function and remain part of a larger whole.
So, what do you see?
