Mood: Meditative

Meditation is the practice of intentionally spending time with your mind and focusing on the present moment. Many people who practice meditation use techniques to achieve a distraction-free state, such as sitting or lying down with their eyes closed in a quiet room, listening to calming music, or placing their focus on a specific object. Meditation is believed to have originated thousands of years ago in India, and is still widely practiced today around the world. Join Artsper as we explore the links between meditation and the world of art and design! 

Artists from around the world have depicted meditation and serenity through art for centuries. Art's potential to induce emotions and mental states makes it a perfect tool for meditation itself. So, it's no surprise that there is a plethora of art that is rooted in this practice, spanning diverse eras and cultures. To begin, let's go back to the first known examples of meditative art, dating to the prehistoric era. Among works from this era are small figurines of the Goddess, now referred to as “Venus figurines". They are believed to be around 40,000 years old, and to have been used for fertility and worship purposes. 

Fast-forward to the 21st century, and the concept of meditative art takes on a new meaning with immersive installations designed to induce a meditative state. Yayoi Kusama's 2009 work Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity, for example, is an “infinitely mirrored room" that immerses its viewer in a never-ending visual field of paper lanterns and darkness. For Kusama, like many artists, the practice of making art was a form of meditation in itself. Having dealt with unsettling hallucinations from a young age, art offered her a means of escape. 

Meditative art cannot be confined to a single definition due to the wide and rich history of meditation itself. To capture the diversity of meditation in art, Artsper has curated a selection of artists and designers who take inspiration from this practice in some way. Join us and discover artists influenced by meditation and serenity, such as Léa Ferling and Artigas Planas!