Everyday Encounters With the Sacred: Artist, Action, and Image

Abstract

The narratives that are shaped from in-depth dialogs with the artists suggest there is meaning in the sacred encounters because they are not set apart from daily activities, but are embedded in everyday experiences. Through relationships, both with others in the community of like believers and with the images themselves, the artists experience an evolving awareness of their spiritual growth which subsequently affects the visual expression of the sacred. This research suggests that further studies of such art makers' narratives should be included in art investigations; for their stories offer an indispensable difference that broadens our conception of knowledge. An experience of the sacred as both a creative and transformative lived encounter in the life of an artist offers a unique perspective that has profound implications for art making, for art instruction, and most significantly, for further study of our own human nature.