This is the third time in four years that an annual creative project has been held in the hospital centre. All parties involved believe in the power of art as therapy. And as the project emphasises group involvement, culminating in an exhibition, it's valid training in working as part of a team.

Orlean Lai, of the Youth Arts Festival, trained in child psychology and is the project coordinator. 'In the first couple of weeks of working together, everyone pulled together really well,' she says. 'Art is totally new to many of the participants and the project has given some the most responsibility they've ever had to take - in helping others and in ensuring they themselves don't quit.'

This year, the theme is the female body. Unlike in previous years, this is a girls-only art group. 'We wanted to get quite deep into a programme that would help teenage girls feel higher esteem about their bodies,' says Wong. 'Some are girls with eating disorders, or with disabilities incurred after a stroke and so on. So we've had workshops before the art programme began to make them feel positive.'

Pao, a recent Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts scenic art graduate, says she noticed some reticence at first from the participants, who were briefed to come up with a self-portrait for this project. 'Some were not kind about themselves at all in their original sketches,' she says. 'I reminded them that part of the point of fine art is that we do not have to be exact with our representation - a feeling of who they are is as valid as correct proportion.'

Each self-portrait was first drawn in pencil on paper, as an approximately life-size representation. This was stuck to a thin sheet of soft EVA foam - in a colour of the participant's choice - and scissors were used to achieve a flat cut-out form. This was then stuck onto a background, divided into three vertical segments and painted by the participant. The segments each form one side of a cube. Three cubes are stacked to allow separate works to be viewed on each side.

'I'm calling my work Lost and Found,' one 15-year-old participant says, holding her paper sketch cut-out in front of a vertical backdrop streaked with warm red, brown and pink. Unlike many of her peers, Yan (some names have been changed) has some background in visual arts. 'I've been painting and working on calligraphy since I was seven.'

By the end of the fourth session, all acrylic backgrounds, mostly painted with brushes but some enhanced with stencilled or sponged-on paintwork, are finished. In week five, the rainbow stack of EVA cut-outs get their last bit of handiwork. As a final touch, participants select one of their own body parts to be highlighted and rendered in collage materials, which include twine, fabric, mesh and sequins.

In the past couple of weeks, the works have been on display in the foyer of the Sheraton Hotel. Tomorrow, they will be in the spotlight even more, as the exhibition moves to the epicentre of the Hong Kong art scene, the lobby of the Cultural Centre. The students seem more excited than nervous at the prospect. 'I never thought I could draw or paint. When I tried as a young child, my mum said, 'Your pictures are so ugly!'' says 16-year-old Sandy, who is recovering from a stroke. 'Now that I know I can draw, I will join a course.'

Cut-Out Figures By Sheraton, opens tomorrow, Cultural Centre foyer, TST. Ends Nov 28