Mr. Elephant
Mr. Elephant (who has a very good memory) is bound in swathes of bandage that assist with the containment emotional distress. It represents a psychological image of him, specifically the way in which he symbolises containment of pain and distress. Mr. Elephant’s self-reflection assists with self-regulating his emotional response to moments when memories of difficult past events emerge. When he reflects upon his history and how difficult events from his past influence his current emotional state, he imagines another bandage wrapped around a part of his body to help contain or self-regulate his thoughts and behaviours.
Self-regulation refers to psychological and behavioural processes individuals use to manage drives and emotions. Self regulation is an important psychological skill. It is a skill that can prevent people from throwing things when they’re angry, shouting abuse at others during disputes, spending too much money, indulging in too much alcohol or food, etcetera, etcetera. However there’s more to the concept of self-regulation than just describing it as having a level of will power. It’s about keeping emotions in check and rationally responding to events past and present. Dr. Albert Ellis (the founder of Rational-Emotional and Behavioural Therapy: REBT) wrote extensively on the subject of self-regulation. In numerous books, Dr. Ellis provided descriptions of the positive outcomes of people who work at self-regulating their emotions and behaviours. He also linked self-regulation to self-defeating behaviours. That is, how emotional problems surface because people either do not know how to, or know how but do not try to think more clearly and behave in a less self-defeating manner.
Like many of my other sculptures in the 100-artdolls challenge, Mr. Elephant is made from papier-mâché and discarded objects including fabric and paint. He has polished glass feet and his eyes are plastic. He stands approximately 35 centimeters tall. Mr. Elephant does not represent forgetting or diminishing difficult experiences from the past. He represents the notion of being able to deal with pain and distress (working at and practicing self-regulating his thoughts and behaviours) in ways that do not have adverse effects upon him.
(This post relates to Mr. Elephant, Arrigo Dorissa art doll #12, April 2008)
What a beautifully colored piece Arrigo. It looks like there really is a living creature under those bandages. Very soulful eyes. Regards, Hilda.
I love Mr. Elephant and how he illustrates self-regulation. I am an occupational therapist working with children with diagnoses such as ADHD, autism, and behavioral needs, and self-regulation is something we work on daily. It is both a psychological and physiological process which can be very challenging if you are not in tune with your body and the way you process feelings. It is especially challenging for the teens I work with. I will visualize Mr. Elephant and maybe even mention him to my students the next time we are together. Wonderful work! Kelli Schwert
Hello Kelli,
Thank you for your insightful and kind comments. I too work regularly with an organisation that attends to the needs of children with an array of issues that prevent them from attending mainstream school. Interventions for self-regulating behaviours, thoughts and emotions are a constant challenge for the staff that directly deals with the young people to whom I refer. Mr. Elephant was created as a symbol of a self-regulatory tool, albeit my own self regulation, which I continue to work at managing with varying degrees of success. All the best with your very important work and I welcome your feedback anytime.
Arrigo.
I think he is really cool in an odd sorta way! Keep up the good work!