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Healing Panels: Co-create Comics as a Self-care Approach is a free public exhibition and workshop programme exploring how comics, visual metaphor and art therapy can support self-care, reflection and the expression of mental health experiences.

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The exhibition presents a series of single-panel comics co-created through artist-researcher Jiahao Ji’s PhD research at Kingston University London. Working with people who have lived experience of mental health challenges and neurodivergent experiences, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD and autism, the project explores how visual metaphor and drawing can give form to personal experiences and open up new ways to express and understand them. The works were developed through a previous series of workshops led by Ji in collaboration with Mind in Kingston and Fusebox.

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Alongside the comics, the exhibition includes an academic essay introducing Ji’s method, a graphic novel documenting the co-creation process, and eighty hand-drawn sketches created by participants in previous workshops. The method has been developed through three years of doctoral research combining elements of Art Therapy and Narrative Therapy, particularly the stages of externalisation, deconstruction and reconstruction. These stages support participants to look at their experiences from a different perspective, to explore the stories they tell about themselves, and to imagine new possibilities. Visual metaphor is central to this process. By turning feelings, challenges or inner experiences into images, participants are invited to give shape to what may feel abstract, hidden or hard to describe. 

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As part of the public programme, four live participatory workshops invite visitors to explore comics as a gentle form of self-care, reflection and creative expression. Open to all, the workshops offer a supportive space for people who may be navigating mental health challenges, as well as anyone interested in using drawing and storytelling to reflect on personal experience. Led by Jiahao Ji with Art Psychotherapist Kavisha Dharia and invited comic artists, each session will guide participants in creating their own short visual narratives. 

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Through the exhibition and workshops, Healing Panels creates a welcoming space for Lewisham’s local communities and wider audiences. The programme opens up conversations between artists, art therapists, local organisations and the public, while exploring how visual storytelling can support everyday care. It moves creative and therapeutic tools beyond the clinic, into cultural spaces where they can be shared more openly.

Read full exhibition handout

Exhibition & Workshop booklet
 

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