Healing Panels : Co-create Comics as a Self-care Approach
12–22 June 2026, open daily 12–6pm
Opening reception: 5–9pm, Friday 12 June
Free exhibition and workshops, open to all
Booking is essential for workshops. Book here.
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.
The exhibition presents a series of single-panel comics co-created by artist-researcher Jiahao Ji (Jill) with people who have lived experience of mental health challenges and neurodivergent experiences, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD and autism. Developed through previous workshops with Mind in Kingston, the works use visual metaphor and drawing to give form to personal experiences and open up new ways to express and understand them.
Alongside the comics, the exhibition includes a visual academic publication introducing Ji’s method, and a graphic novel documenting the co-creation process. Together, these works explore how comics, storytelling and visual metaphor can offer an accessible approach to everyday self-care. Through the exhibition and workshops, Healing Panels creates a welcoming, enjoyable and creative programme for Lewisham’s local communities and wider audiences, while opening up conversations between artists, art therapists, local organisations and communities.
Four live participatory workshops will welcome members of the public to explore comics as a gentle and accessible 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 therapist Kavisha Dharia (Art Psychotherapist HCPC) and invited comic artists, each session will guide participants in creating their own short visual narratives. No previous drawing experience is needed.
The exhibition and public programme are curated by Catherine Li and take place at Lewisham Arthouse from 12–22 June, open daily from 12–6pm. This programme is generously supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
About the artist-researcherJiahao Ji is a third-year PhD researcher at Kingston University London. Her research focuses on narrative and metaphor therapy through the development of a co-creative visual intervention method. She has led over 20 workshops in collaboration with charities including Mind in Kingston and Fusebox, as well as therapists across the UK, China and Australia. Her work has been presented at four academic conferences and has received recognition for its innovation and therapeutic potential.
About the curatorCatherine Li is a South East London-based curator whose practice centres on site-specific exhibitions, public programmes, participatory art and curatorial publication. She approaches curating as a means of cultural creation and critical exchange, developing exhibitions as platforms for research, innovation and community-building.
Supported byNational Lottery through Arts Council EnglandSouth East London MindArts NetworkEntelechy ArtsMind in KingstonLewisham Arthouse
Special thanks to Tracey Griffin, Ling Leng, Ailing Zhang, Xinmiao Bai, Shellz Xiao and Summer Alan for their generous support, expertise and contributions to the development and delivery of the project.
For further information or enquiries, please contact us at healingpanels@gmail.com
