Martín La Roche Contreras & Mirthe Berentsen: Sandplay

About the Exhibition

Providence College Galleries will present Sandplay, an ongoing collaboration between Martín La Roche Contreras and Mirthe Berentsen, in Reilly Gallery from February 19, 2025, through February 13, 2026. Both artists participated in the Beautiful Distress Foundation artist-in-residence program (2018 and 2019, respectively), hosted by the Behavioral Health Services Department of Kings County Hospital in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

Sandplay will address the transformative value of storytelling and memories when associated with tangible objects. How can this process of reflection contribute to personal discovery and collective connection? The exhibition’s central work is a sandbox accompanied by an installation of collections, some created by the artists, with others gathered through the host institution. These collections comprise handheld-sized objects ranging from toys, figurines, and mementos to seeds and leaves found in the natural environment. Sandplay invites free interpretation of the Jungian sand play therapy developed by psychoanalyst Dora Kalff in the1950s. Objects are freely placed in a sandbox during this process to create new narratives. Each day, new and different stories can be explored.

Organized by PCG Director Carol Stakenas