An Otherworldly Connection Through Art-Making

Abstract monotype - Concentric circles representing the transition between thresholds of consciousness

In the contemporary Western world, creativity tends to be seen as a trait with commercial utilty. Yet for thousands of years, creative expression has been viewed as a participatory process with potential to link to a divine or transcendent energy. Through my visual arts practice I have become fascinated by the connection between creativity and states of consciousness. Although states of flow and unexpected inspiration occur in my commercially orientated work, art that I have created spontaneously seems to foster deeper states of awareness and is sometimes connected to inexplicable events. More details about these experiences are shared in my article Creativity & Constellation, published in Issue 39 of The Knowing Field. I was curious to learn more about other people’s experiences of creating art that related to nonordinary states of consciousness. This topic became the foundation of my MSc research.

The stories and art that were gathered during this project have now been developed into an ebook - Crossing Thresholds. This book is open-access and free to download and share.

The research topic was also influenced by the work of the late psychologist Michael Thalbourne who developed the concept of transliminality. Individuals who are highly transliminal are said to be more sensitive to material that is typically out of reach of the conscious mind. Ernest Hartmann developed a similar idea through his dream research, differentiating between those with ‘thick’ and ‘thin’ boundaries. While those with thick boundaries were less affected by internal or external influences, those with thin boundaries tended to be sensitive and open. Hartmann and Thalbourne both conducted research that demonstrated links between these concepts and creativity.

The aim of my research was to collect rich, descriptive accounts that explored the experience of individuals in the context of their creative practice as well as their everyday lives. My intention was to consider creativity from an expansive perspective - as a process rather than a measurable trait – and to explore the following question:

What are the stories of individuals creating transliminal art, and how does it relate to heightened perception and boundaries?

I used the term transliminal art to refer to creative output that is either: the product of psychological material crossing the threshold between the conscious and unconscious, or created in connection with an nonordinary state of consciousness.

Integral Inquiry as Research Process

The project was guided by Integral Inquiry, a transpersonal approach developed by William Braud. Within this framework, I used methods from Narrative Inquiry and Arts-based Research. Firstly, an online survey was used to gather stories from people who had created a piece of art that related to a nonordinary state of consciousness or unusual experience. Twenty five people responded and the contributions were inspiring and often poignant. While I would have loved to speak to each and every person, time limitations meant that the number of interviews had to be limited. I had conversations with ten of the survey respondents on an online video call to find out more. More details were often shared in subsequent email conversations. I collated the data and created individual narratives that re-presented each person’s experiences. It was essential that these ‘re-storied’ accounts were an accurate reflection of what happened. So, as part of the validation process, the written stories were returned to the participants and further input was welcomed.

Connection and creative expression

The theme that lay at the heart of the stories was Connection. This was linked to various stages of the creative process. It was often a felt sense of a presence or guidance from a source beyond the self. In some cases, the creative process opened a comforting spiritual connection with a loved one who had passed away. For others, it provided an emotional connection with someone living but who was not physically reachable. More often, guidance was received from an otherworldly or mysterious source. Art that had been created in this way often seemed to evolve over time, unfolding in tandem with aspects of the participants lives and linking with other nonordinary experiences.

While the sensitivity of participants often led to them experiencing Sensory or Emotional Overload, creative expression provided a way to process intense emotions and deal with challenging experiences. In addition, retreating from over-activation was often a catalyst for Expansion of Sensory Perception that fostered a heightened awareness and nonordinary states of consciousness. These conditions often led to a sense of an energetic connection.

A simplified version of the thematic map is below to illustrate the links between these themes and different ways that the process unfolded. 

Crossing Thresholds Thematic Map (simplified version) to illustrate the connections between the research findings.

Outcome and continued explorations

This study illustrates ways that the experiences nonordinary states of consciousness link to the creative process and how it relate heightened perception and boundaries. Future research using validated questionnaires as well as in-depth interviews could support the connection between artists’ experiences of nonordinary states of consciousness and the existing literature on transliminality and boundaries.

There is a lot of evidence showing that creative expression can contribute to wellbeing. Could art with a spiritual or sacred dimension have additional potential in this regard? The sense of transpersonal connection experienced by participants was deeply meaningful and often provided support through challenging times. A longer research project following the experiences of individuals alongside their creative work could assess long-term outcomes.

The stories gathered through the research are in line with the view that nonordinary experiences are not uncommon. Does creative expression have potential to open us to something more expansive? If so, this may have implications for our understanding of reality and consciousness. Post materialist scientists, such as Erwin Lazlo, outline evidence that there is an underlying connectedness between matter and mind. Perhaps there is latent potential for humankind to access sources of information beyond the physical senses.

Crossing Thresholds - a free ebook containing the stories and artwork is now freely available online.

For more information on this research, or to request a full copy of the report, please get in touch.

References

Braud, W. (2011). Integral inquiry: The principles and practices of an inclusive and integrated research approach. In R. Anderson, & W. Braud, (Eds.), Transforming self and others through research: Transpersonal research methods and skills for the human sciences and humanities (pp. 71-130). State University of New York Press.

Hartmann, E. (1990). Thin and thick boundaries: Personality, dreams, and imagination. In R. G. Kunzendorf, (Ed.), Mental Imagery (pp. 71-78). Springer.

Kim, J. (2016). Understanding narrative inquiry: The crafting and analysis of stories as research. SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071802861

Laszlo, E. (2020). Reconnecting to the source: The new science of spiritual experience, and how it can change you, and how it can transform the world. St Martin’s Press. 

Leavy, P. (2015). Method meets art: Arts-based research practice (2nd ed.). The Guildford Press.

Thalbourne, M. A., & Maltby, J. (2008). Transliminality, thin boundaries, unusual experiences, and temporal lobe lability. Personality and Individual Differences, 44(7), 1617-1623. www.ernesthartmann.com/files/transliminality_thin-boundaries_unusual-experience.pdf