by Incrosnatu Danut:“Be an artist of consciousness. Your picture of reality is your most important creation. Make it powerfully profoundly beautiful.” ~ Alex Grey
A new generation of psychedelic artists have emerged in the past ten years who have taken visionary art to a new peak becoming one of the most culturally relevant art forms of our time. Since the dawn of art, artists have attempted to reach and to show what the eyes don’t see, but the inner voice or the soul comprehend. Visionary art is art that purports to transcend the physical world and portray a wider vision of awareness including spiritual or mystical themes, or is based in such experiences.
Psychedelic art is informed by the notion that altered states of consciousness produced by psychedelic drugs are a source of artistic inspiration. The psychedelic art movement is similar to the surrealist movement in that it prescribes a mechanism for obtaining inspiration.
Different psychedelic substances give rise to different experiences. Pablo Amaringo’s work deals primarily with the ceremonial use of ayahuasca. Alex Grey’s work springs forth from his experimentation with a variety of substances including LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, salvia divinorum, and DMT, the psychedelic component of ayahuasca. All of these substances provide enhancement of colors, heightened awareness of details in the visual field, distortion, and hallucinations.
The artist’s mission is to make the soul perceptible. Our scientific, materialist culture trains us to develop the eyes of outer perception. Visionary art encourages the development of our inner sight. To find the visionary realm, we use the intuitive inner eye: The eye of contemplation; the eye of the soul. We are happy to share with you a list of visionary artists.
