Before a beautiful painting, the blood flow increases, just as it increases when you look at someone you love. It tells us that art creates a good feeling directly in the brain.
– Professor Semir Zeki, chair of neuroaesthetics at University College London
Observing art
Mirror neurons are neurons that fire both when a person acts and when the person observes the same action performed by another. This brings us back to a very fundamental concept in human evolution, namely modeling. When you observe a profound work of art, you may activate the same neurons as the artist did when he created it, creating new neural pathways and stimulating a state of inspiration. This feeling of being drawn into a painting is called “embodied cognition.”
Art employs some of the most sophisticated processes of human intuitive analysis and expressiveness, and an important form of aesthetic appreciation is through embodied cognition, the ability to project oneself as an agent into the depicted scene,
– Christopher Tyler,
director of the Smith-Kettlewell Brain Imaging Center
This explains why we can feel like we are dreaming when we look at impressionists like Claude Monet, or have an ecstatic vision when we look at a painting by Alex Gray. The ability of art, combined with our own imagination, to transport us to other realms is astonishing. Artists have the ability to show us new worlds, but we should not put them on a pedestal because each of us is an artist.
Creating art activates the entire brain and can promote the integration of emotional, cognitive and sensory processes.
– Joan French MA NCC LCPC
Creating art
Creating art is also therapeutic, which is what sparked the art therapy movement. Each of us lived as artists as children and we have the ability to bring back this powerful form of expression and self-healing if we allow ourselves. You don’t have to be an expert to have fun smearing paint on a canvas and making your pleasure centers light up like a child!
Modern Visionary artists
apply the idea that art inspires community, is educational, and has the ability to provoke spiritual revelation. Painting together in groups and painting live during music events: these artists allow participants to participate in their creative process. Seeing and understanding that even the most beautiful works of art have many moments when the artist is dissatisfied or has to paint over something is revelatory for each of us on our spiritual journey.
Art therapy, also called expressive art or art psychology, encourages self-discovery and emotional growth. It is a two-fold process, involving both the creation of art and the discovery of its meaning.
– Paula Ford Martin
Celebrating how art changes consciousness
Artist Alex Gray is open Cosmo
in New York, which is called a Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. Within the Visionary Art Movement there is the idea that creativity itself is a path to the divine. This includes creating art, collecting/celebrating art, and creating communities that promote creative expression in all its forms. Creativity is perhaps one of the most beautiful things about being human and art can be a great teacher for us on this evolutionary journey.
To awaken and catalyze the spiritual path of each person by providing access to the highest mystical truth through art and creative action.
– Cosmo core value
We are surrounded by billboards and advertisements that use art to persuade us to buy things we normally don’t need. There is currently a big movement towards beautifying public places murals
that include cultural and community relevance. Imagine how we could create a more peaceful, vibrant world by surrounding ourselves with beautiful art…
I would like to see a world where scientists, politicians and spiritual practitioners come together around art to learn and share with each other to create a better world. Visual arts can heal us, inspire us and change the chemistry of our brains, leaving us full of inspiration and love. We don’t need science to prove this to us, but now that it exists, what are some ways you can call on art and creativity for your own spiritual journey?