Poiesis: finding form for experience in Expressive Arts

This article explains why art-making is more than expression, and what it means for therapy, education, and personal growth.

What is poiesis

What does it mean to know something?

The philosopher Aristotle described three distinct ways of "knowing," each representing a different relationship between ourselves and the world:

• theoria, to know by reason and observation,

• praxis, to know by doing and practice,

• poiesis, to know by making.

It is the third — poiesis — that sits at the heart of Expressive Arts, and I want to speak about it.

Shaping is how we respond to the world

Poiesis comes from the Greek word for making. It is the root of the word "poetry" — and in its original sense, it referred to any act of bringing something new into the world. But in Expressive Arts, its meaning runs deeper than art-making alone.

The concept of poiesis was introduced into the Expressive Arts by Stephen K. Levine. He writes that poiesis is fundamental to human existence:

“Human beings are not born pre-adapted to their environment… they have to find ways to respond to the world… and shape it so that it can become a place in which they can live. Shaping what is given is what I mean by poiesis.” — Stephen K. Levine, 2019 ¹

In other words, poiesis is making as "a response to the world". While play and exploration are important, Levine suggests that change requires us to shape imagination into a physical form — a poem, a dance, a painting. This "crystallisation" is how we make meaning of our lives.

Meaning comes through making

There is a common misconception about Expressive Arts: that it is primarily about expression — getting something out.

But Expressive Arts is not about expressing what you already know or feel. It is about finding form for what you do not yet know — and discovering, through the process of making, what your experience actually means.

The meaning does not already exist inside you, waiting to be released; it emerges through the act of making itself.

You start with an experience — something felt, something that does not yet have words. Given materials and space, you let the making process find its shape. The form reveals the meaning. That is poiesis.

Our endless capacity to create and aesthetic responsibility

Poiesis does not rely on talent or skill. It is our natural ability to take what life gives us and shape it into something meaningful:

“The human capacity for poiesis can never be exhausted. It is our responsibility to continue to bring beauty into the world and to shape ourselves and our social and natural environments in a way that makes sense. Only thus can we hope to find fulfilment and happiness in this life.” —Stephen K. Levine, 2019 ¹

Levine suggests that we have an aesthetic responsibility to shape the world "aesthetically" — meaning in a way that "makes sense" to our senses and respects the world's "otherness".

In this sense, poiesis is not only personal; it is ethical and relational.

How you shape your experience, your environment, and your interactions with others contributes to the shared world you live in. So we must do it with curiosity and care.

A fun activity for you.

Choose a subject where you feel stuck or want to explore. Select a medium in which you don't have artistic skill and spend the next 15-30 minutes exploring the subject visually, through sound, movement, or nature. After the exploration, write down any thoughts that came up.

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Thanks for reading. Thinking about trying Expressive Arts?

Reach out to me for individual Expressive Arts sessions in Berlin and online, Community Arts & Workshops in Berlin and online and Creative Team Building Workshops in Berlin and online.

Resources:

1. Levine, S. K. (2019). Philosophy of expressive arts therapy: Poiesis and the therapeutic imagination. London, England; Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.