Francys Catherine Ruiz Moreno, our artist-in-residence at the Lusaka Contemporary Art Centre from April to May 2025 discussed Art as Therapy: Creating Space for Healing and Reflection at LuCAC on Saturday, May 10, 2025.
Francys is a Colombian multi-disciplinary artist and a Social Work student based in Winnipeg, Canada. Her art is deeply rooted in personal storytelling, emotion and lived experience. She works across mediums to explore themes of identity, ancestral connection, the emotional and political experience of migration, her own spirituality and what it means to live in a female body in today’s world.
A big part of her work as a social worker engages with social justice – especially themes of migration, identity and how migrants are seen and treated in places like Canada and the United States, and she translates that into her art. As an immigrant herself, she understands the layers of emotional complexity that come with displacement: grief, hope, loss, resilience, reinvention. These experiences are deeply emotional, and art becomes a space where those emotions can be witnessed and shared.
She started experimenting with different mediums—acrylics, collage, fabric, installation—and realized that each material let her express something different. There were things she didn’t know how to say, but could show them in textures, colours, and shapes. That experience planted a seed: what if this process could be shared with others? What if art could become a space for others to also find healing and connection? which led to the decision to start social work and pursuing a career as an art-therapist.
According to Francys, words from her artist talk.
Art as Process, Not Product
In Western capitalist societies, there’s often a pressure to focus on the final product—to perform, to produce, to be efficient. But I see art differently. For me, creating is a way to slow down, to connect with what I’m feeling, and to be present in my body.
It’s a mindful process. It helps me reflect on my emotions, make sense of my experiences, and come back to myself. I believe this process is powerful and can be accessible to anyone—not just trained artists. That’s part of why I’m studying social work and art therapy: to bridge that space between art and healing.
Art and Social Justice – Migration, Identity, and Ancestry
A big part of my work as a social worker engages with social justice—especially themes of migration, identity, and how migrants are seen and treated in places like Canada and the United States and I’m trying to translate this to my artwork.
As an immigrant myself, I understand the layers of emotion and complexity that come with displacement: grief, hope, loss, resilience, reinvention. These experiences are deeply emotional, and art becomes a space where those emotions can be witnessed and shared.
I want to bring visibility to the emotional worlds of migrants through art .
Introducing Miradorx – Collective Art Practice (7–9 mins)
I’m also a member of Miradorx, a Latinx feminist art collective based in Winnipeg. We create collaborative, community-focused installations that highlight cultural memory, sensory experience, and resistance.
One of our recent projects, Marchante, was inspired by traditional Latin American market stalls. We created a multisensory installation with soft sculptures of fruits and vegetables, LED lighting, and ambient sound. The piece celebrated the cultural symbolism of food, and the stories that live inside everyday objects.
Working collectively with Miradorx has been transformative. Collective art offers something individual art cannot—it opens a space for dialogue, for negotiation, and for shared imagination. And in the context of art therapy, collective art becomes especially powerful. It fosters belonging, reduces isolation, and allows people to co-create meaning together.
Whether we’re working with survivors of trauma, newcomers, or youth, group-based art projects can support healing in ways that are gentle, non-verbal, and culturally grounded.
Why Collective Art Matters for me in my practice
In art therapy, there’s often an emphasis on the individual. But I believe that creating collectively has therapeutic value too—especially for people who have been marginalized, displaced, or silenced.
When people make art together, something shifts. They begin to see themselves not just as individuals struggling alone, but as part of a larger story, a shared community. Collective art helps rebuild trust, reimagine relationships, and give voice to experiences that are hard to articulate.
Francys’ Studio (her personal space for creation, unofficial visit)
