Art created by self-taught artists, often without any formal training, in order to communicate personal vision. The individuals involved in this particular creative process may not even consider themselves artists, nor their creations as art.
The pieces produced are often spontanous, without any attempts to follow in the footsteps of established artistic traditions. The compositional choices made are instinctual, and the themes intensely personal and individualized.
Visionary artwork is often at it's most intense when the person making it is unaware of the unique creative process they may be involved in; Dubuffet says, "Art is often best when it forgets it's very name." Theory suggests that in the process of disregarding artistic standards, the creator may be able to tap into instinctual art making processes, and create pieces that will really rock the boat.
These works are often of alternative meduims (i.e. found objects,trash, car parts, organic materials, bodily wastes, pencil shavings)and the ideas expressed, though very individualized, exemplify cultural ideals. Subjects like life after death, sexual tensions, and isolation in the crowd are common. Resulting pieces are often attempts to deal with/express repressed emotions accumulated from tramatic experiences, like child abuse, drug addictions, war experiences... (The list of crappy stuff that could happen to you goes on and on.)
The only *real* definition of visionary art is art that defies our preconcieved notions about what art should be, who should be making it, and why.