Artists often use religious themes

For many self-taught artists, it’s their religious fervor that compels them to create to begin with.

The reality of the soul and its separateness from our mortal body are important issues of religious philosophy. They deal with the prospects of a future life or an after-life, things that can only be known through sheer faith rather than any physical evidence. Those of us who claim not to be religious may still believe in the existence of the soul, else why attempt to be “good,” “honest,” or “kind”? You know – what goes around comes around. Our good deeds live on after us. Sounds quite religious.

It’s interesting to me that many self-taught artists depict religious themes in their art. They say it’s their religious beliefs that compel them to create to begin with. For example, Matt Lamb, a world-famous self-taught artist, glorifies people, animals, and flowers alike in his work. To him, they are "all as one in the sense that all are living organisms produced by an all-powerful, loving creator.”

One of the most stunning examples is “The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly.” It was built by James Hampton, a quiet man employed as a janitor for the General Services Administration in Washington, D.C., who worked on the installation for fourteen years in a rented garage. He made the parts of the throne from junk he found on job, on the streets, and in secondhand stores, which he meticulously wrapped in gold and silver foil. After having a series of “visions” he felt compelled to build the throne apparently as a way to communicate personally with God. It was his monument to Jesus. It’s now housed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum where it takes up an entire room.