The Collins Big Book of Art -Inspiration
On a nice, fall day in Florida, I found myself relaxing at Borders with a big cup of coffee, about six massive art books and probably the entire C.S Lewis collection. I picked up the largest of the artbooks (pictured above) and started nonchalantly flipping through. As I noticed the 'other-worldly' content of most paintings, my mind started to trail off on some philosophical pursuit...
So this is the way I see it: Humans have been depicting spirituality through their artwork since the stone age, and we know that the art of a particular culture embodies the belief systems of that people. The various themes represented in the paintings and sculptures of studied societies are so vastly different in stye, feel, and philosophy, but share one central, deep need: to connect humanity with a transcending power. Almost all religions, excluding agnosticism and atheism, are centered around an existence beyond our limitations that is simultaneously woven through the natural world.
There is nothing that exists that is not real. Just as we cannot imagine a color that is not portrayed in our existing world, the human mind cannot pose wholly original creations. Our inventions can be powerfully innovative, but in essence they are merely combinations of already existing ideas and images. At heart, we are combiners--we are not creators. We did not create ourselves and we cannot create from materials external to the boundaries of this natural world. Along the same lines, how would we have a preconceived notion of the divine, of fantasy, and of truth beyond ourselves if it did not exist? We cannot exist purely in the natural when every society, without exception, reflects in its artwork a deep and provoking quest for the unknown. Where are the origins?
