In recent years, a profound shift toward spirituality has emerged in the contemporary art world, marking a renewed interest in mysticism, esoteric knowledge, and explorations of identity and nature. Central to this movement are artists like Swedish visionary Hilma af Klint and multidisciplinary artist Saya Woolfalk, whose works invite audiences into transcendent spaces that blend spirituality with cultural hybridity and ecological consciousness.
Image Source: Museum of Modern Art, New York — Installation view of Hilma af Klint’s botanical “Studies” series, 1919–1920
Hilma af Klint: A Pioneer of Spiritual Abstraction
Long before abstract art gained widespread recognition, Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) was creating deeply spiritual paintings inspired by her involvement with theosophy and spiritual séances. Her early 20th-century works, exemplified by her exquisite botanical illustrations from the “Studies” series (1919–1920) recently shown at the Museum of Modern Art, merge scientific detail with sacred geometry to reveal unseen energetic and spiritual dynamics within nature.
Art historian Daniel Birnbaum characterizes af Klint’s approach as “mystical empiricism,” where abstraction conveys the vitality of organic processes rather than cold mathematical precision. Her paintings function as portals into an unseen spiritual realm, bridging the natural and supernatural and offering an early feminist ecological vision long overshadowed in art history.
Saya Woolfalk: Imagining Empathic Hybrid Futures
In a contemporary context, Saya Woolfalk expands the spiritual narrative through her immersive, multimedia practice focused on creating the Empathic Universe. Woolfalk’s fictional community of “Empathics” are hybrid beings who fuse human and plant traits, symbolizing transformative identity, belonging, and ecological empathy.
Woolfalk’s work, featured prominently in her recent retrospective at New York’s Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), incorporates video, sculpture, performance, and textiles, drawing upon African, Indigenous, and Asian cultural traditions interwoven with speculative sci-fi elements. Her visionary practice invites viewers to reimagine sociocultural boundaries and engage with spirituality as a tool for healing and inclusive futurism.
Image Source: Museum of Arts and Design, New York — Installation view of Saya Woolfalk's “Empathic Universe” exhibition
The Broader Spiritual Renaissance in Art
This spiritual turn coincides with a wider cultural reckoning, as artists across the globe seek alternative frameworks to address political, environmental, and social upheaval. Esoteric themes once marginalized in mainstream art are now embraced for their potent ability to articulate experiences of identity, trauma, and regeneration.
The art world’s shifting focus is evident in major exhibitions highlighting magic, Indigenous wisdom, and feminist spirituality, affirming that art remains a vital pathway to exploring unseen worlds and alternative epistemologies. Hilma af Klint and Saya Woolfalk are emblematic of this movement, offering art as a conduit for transcendent knowledge and ecological interconnection.
FAQs About The Spiritual Turn and Artists Hilma af Klint & Saya Woolfalk
Q: Who was Hilma af Klint and why is her work important?
A: Hilma af Klint was a Swedish artist whose pioneering abstract paintings were deeply informed by spiritualism and mysticism. Her work is important for its early and unique integration of spirituality and nature within abstract art.
Q: What themes does Saya Woolfalk explore in her art?
A: Woolfalk explores hybridity, identity, ecology, and spirituality through a speculative universe inhabited by hybrid human-plant beings, blending diverse cultural mythologies.
Q: How do these artists connect spirituality with nature?
A: Both artists depict nature as an active spiritual force: af Klint through sacred geometry and natural forms, Woolfalk through empathic hybrid beings embodying natural cycles.
Q: Where can I view exhibitions of their work?
A: Hilma af Klint’s works are featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, while Saya Woolfalk’s recent retrospective was held at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York.
Q: What does the spiritual turn in contemporary art signify today?
A: It signifies a cultural shift toward valuing alternative spiritual practices, ecological awareness, and feminist Indigenous narratives as ways to address contemporary global challenges.
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