Paper Short Abstract:

This presentation, illustrated with visual examples, examines the phenomenon of "visionary art"--artworks created by individuals who have been inspired by extraordinary encounters and revelatory experiences attributed to a supranormal agency such as a deity, a spirit, a divine force, or a sacred realm. Such numinous encounters exist cross-culturally and the exploration of visionary art and related material culture provides specific insights that may contribute to a "unwriting" and deeper understanding of these realms of human experience.

Paper Abstract:

This presentation, illustrated with visual examples, examines the phenomenon of "visionary art"--artworks created by individuals who have been inspired by extraordinary encounters and revelatory experiences attributed to a supranormal agency such as a deity, a spirit, a divine force, or a sacred realm. The visionary encounters that motivate such art are prevalent cross-culturally and historically, as seen in the divinely-inspired art of shamans, prophets, sages, mystics, and other visionaries. This paper argues that such "extraordinary" experiences must be be understood within a wide range of anomalous phenomena, such as those mentioned above, as well as trance states, dreams, otherworldly journeys, out-of-body travel, near death experiences, mediumship, clairvoyance, divinely acquired prophetic or healing abilities, and other numinous encounters. The paper surveys such experiences and then explores characterizations of the loosely defined category of "visionary art." I offer a more precise definition of the term, in alignment with William A. Christian's work on visionary cultures. The paper then explores the relationship between extraordinary experiences and selected individuals who began to create art in response to trauma, loss, or personal crisis. I sum, I assert that a focus on visionary art and related material culture provides specific insights that may contribute to a "unwriting" and deeper understanding of these realms of human experience.