Anna Gregor: After Faith

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By methodically carving away layers from paper Anna Gregor creates a shallow relief that captures light within the depth of a single sheet of paper. Imagery becomes visible when the paper is backlit. The works are “in” rather than “on” paper, making use of paper’s translucence. Gregor says: “I developed the technique to works inspired by Christian icons: mediating material objects that project the divine into a form visible to humans, only instead of projecting the divine into visibility, I wanted these carved paper works to mediate undifferentiated light into intelligible form.” The paper as a whole takes on the radiance once contained in a halo.

Emphasis is shifted within the compositional structures of the icons. Gilded fields in the original paintings glow here so that surrounding architectures and halos outshine the obscured figures of the Virgin and saints. The visual affect is like an after-image of foundational stories so familiar as to be almost invisible. With narratives removed, alcove-like structures remain. A palpable absence is at the center. If we consider this as representing the loss of universals, then these works are an opportunity to consider the framing around this vacuum. This body of work, a concise exploration of paper as a medium of light, is evocative of shadow puppets and lantern slides. They invest paper with significance as medium; body, material, and container. Neither surface nor window, these works are paintings located within the shallow depth of single sheets of paper.