“While countless artists and inventors have tapped into the subconscious using meditation, Chavez is taking the idea a step further by exploring how human consciousness, including her own, can itself become an art material.” —The Wall Street Journal
On the Science of Mystical Vision (2014-Present)
Ongoing Meta-Performance and Scientific Inquiry
Presented by Lia Chavez, Dr. Caroline Di Bernardi Luft, and Dr. Joydeep Bhattacharya
On the Science of Mystical Vision is an innovative meta-performance that integrates artistic and neuroscientific methodologies to examine the neural correlates of mystical states of consciousness. Through a series of durational meditations and real-time brainwave monitoring, artist Lia Chavez collaborates with neuroscientists Dr. Caroline Di Bernardi Luft and Dr. Joydeep Bhattacharya to investigate the brain’s role in transcendent experience. Together, they have discovered that ecstatic, mystical states are neurologically rooted in the same brain regions responsible for everyday perception—asserting a radical new view of mystical experience as a form of real perception, not imagination.
ON THE SCIENCE OF
MYSTICAL VISION
Details
On the Science of Mystical Vision, 2014-present
Ongoing Meta-Performance and Scientific Inquiry
Goldsmiths College and Queen Mary, University of London
Credits
Artistic Director and Performer: Lia Chavez
Scientific Directors, data collection, and analysis: Drs. Joydeep Bhattacharya and Caroline di Bernardi Luft
Host institutions: Goldsmiths College and Queen Mary, University of London
Research funding bodies: Creativity Enhancement through Advanced Brain Mapping and Stimulation (CREAM) and Seventh Framework Programme
Selected Press
A performative mystic who practices rigorous physical exigency to sharpen her artistry as she searches inward – thirty day meditations deep in primeval caverns, forty day vows of silence, three-month fasts – Lia Chavez is an explorer of the inner cosmos, delving into various forms of sensory deprivation in order to expand our concept of perception. At the heart of her artistic process is Chavez’s understanding that light’s spiritual and phenomenological qualities are revealed in literal darkness. Her commitment to probing the paradox between light and dark has led her through various forms of rigorous mental training which have led her to repeatedly and predictably experience visionary experiences. One such practice which she has explored in depth is durational meditation within caves.
As part of her intricate contemplative investigation of the inner landscape, Chavez initiated On the Science of Mystical Vision, a work of art and science guided by the mission to develop a scientific language that corresponds with the visionary experiences at the borderlands of perception, which, until now, have been excluded from the realm of rigorous academic scrutiny. As a visiting artist in the neuroscience of creativity at Goldsmiths College and Queen Mary, University of London, Lia’s brain has been studied by both institutions’ pre-eminent neuroscientists for the past decade.
Working in collaboration with researchers at Goldsmiths College and Queen Mary University of London, Chavez has contributed to groundbreaking neuroscientific research. Their studies demonstrate that mystical visions—similar to those reported by spiritual adepts, shamans, and some epilepsy patients—are linked to specific patterns of brain activity, particularly in regions involved in perception. These findings, published in journals such as Frontiers in Neuroscience, show that Chavez’s visionary states have been shown to correspond with high-amplitude occipital gamma wave activity, providing empirical evidence that such experiences are neurologically real and scientifically observable. Notably, this research was also the first to demonstrate that the visual content of meditative imagery can be modeled by delivering transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to the occipital cortex, effectively supporting Chavez's thesis that fluctuations in consciousness can be sculpted as an art material.
Chavez’s rare ability to enter and articulate these heightened states in real time has enabled her to contribute directly to the scientific process, deepening our understanding of the neuroscience of creativity. Her collaborations are helping to redefine the neuroscience of light and vision, expanding scientists' understanding of the mysterious phenomenon and significance of gamma wave activity. These findings suggest that the brain's capacity to process both external and internal light transcends ordinary perception, reaching into domains once believed to be purely mystical or beyond empirical study.
Together, Chavez, Dr. Di Bernardi Luft, and Dr. Bhattacharya are pushing the boundaries of interdisciplinary research by integrating subjective mystical insight into the scientific method. Their work invites a rethinking of how the mind determines what is seen and challenges long-standing divisions between the real and the imagined, the visible and the invisible.
In On the Science of Mystical Vision, Chavez is not simply exploring the intersection of art and science—she is challenging our very understanding of perception, light, and consciousness. Her work reveals that mystical vision is not a departure from reality, but a deep engagement with its most fundamental processes. In doing so, she offers a new paradigm for understanding the profound interconnectedness of mind, body, and the universe.
“Chavez is interested in the Subject’s potential to create.” – Image Journal
“For Chavez, inner and outer space are connected, both literally and through the production of certain congruencies that exist between the mind, the world, and the cosmos.” – Image Journal
This interdisciplinary collaboration represents the first in-depth scientific investigation of mystical vision, providing novel insights into the neural mechanisms underlying these experiences. Their research reveals that mystical visions are not merely subjective or metaphorical, but are biologically connected to the real world, occurring within the perceptual apparatus of the brain.
Chavez’s artistic exploration centers on the paradox between light and dark, inner and outer vision. She contends that the perception of light within the mind is not simply symbolic, but an essential and tangible component of human perception. Her work seeks to bridge the gap between mystical experiences—often considered ineffable—and scientific understandings of how we process light and visual phenomena. In a world long focused on external luminosity, Chavez redirects attention to the subtle, interior light that mainstream science has largely overlooked.
As a performer and mystic, Chavez engages in intensive sensory deprivation and mental training to deepen her connection to inner consciousness. These practices—including extended meditation in ancient caves, fasting, and silence—enable her to systematically access superconscious states of awareness in which revelatory visions arise with clarity and intensity. She believes that light’s spiritual and phenomenological dimensions are most powerfully revealed in literal darkness, where the mind becomes hyper-receptive to refined modes of perception. This body of work represents the current apotheosis of Chavez's lifelong journey of encounters with “divine light”—experiences that began at the age of five and have continued throughout her life.