Abstraction and Religion

The creation of art seems to be inextricably tied to religion ever since humans could express themselves. Paleolithic artists undoubtedly drew cave paintings to express dreams, hunting, and thought. Imagination and dreams are often connected to vision quests in Native American religions. The mechanics of belief also ties back into art in the way the brain is structured in a way to make belief in abstractions possible. This goes back to Mithen's description of the difference between neanderthal and modern man. In addition, Golding in Paths to the Absolute captures the relationship between man and art through the quote from John Dewey: "a mode of communication between man and his environment," (pg 114). It seems then that the environment inspires humans to create new environments and visualizations. This is how religions are created by imagining other places foreign to what we can observe, or beings that are also abstract.

Its seems that Jackson Pollock tried to capture the abstract nature of religion in his art by rendering his imagination of what that would be on canvas. Consider the artwork Guardians of the Secret, which mirrors beliefs of Mayas and Ancient Egyptians (Golding, 124). They believed in a sort of underworld linked to the world above through a square hole where people could enter. This is an analogy for abstract thought coming from observation. The Ancient Egyptians and Mayans created art to represent these beliefs. Therefore abstract thought connected to art is no new concept, but has changed through the ages.