Artwork of the Week: September 30, 2024
A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a core theme of Paige Anderson's work is the meditative powers of devotional art and how it can be channeled in LDS visual culture. Her intention is for art to act as another conduit for seeking and receiving inspiration from God for both the creator and the viewer.
Taking cues from a millennia-old religious art form, this triptych by Paige Anderson consists of three meticulously painted panels: Think of me, Thou Ransomed One (left), Again, Glorified (middle), and Loose the Bands Which Bind (right). Triptychs commonly serve as altarpieces, giving worshippers a devotional focal point around which to center their adoration. The center panel generally depicts the most important part of the religious narrative. As such, in most Christian aesthetic traditions, Christ’s crucifixion takes this pride of place. However, Anderson departs from this norm by emphasizing Christ’s Resurrection, rather than his death, as a source of hope in the promise that all will rise again, glorified. There are new and tender spring greens, the gold and purple sky that comes on the heels of a storm, the glorious brightness in center. The panel on the left is a depiction of Christ’s suffering in the garden and being comforted by an angel. The panel on the right, the crucifixion, is signified by cruciform brightness on the overlaid patterning.
Though abstract in style, Anderson’s work is thoughtfully ordered and geometrically legible. In addition to drawing upon the complex patterning of DNA, pedigree charts, and Islamic design for inspiration, Anderson’s work is heavily influenced by her pioneer heritage in the form of quilt making. Not only do quilt patterns root Anderson’s work in LDS visual culture, they also carry a subtle, yet poignant, connection to Christ’s Atonement. Scholar Hugh Nibley explains:
“The basic word for atonement is kafar, which has the same basic meaning in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic—that being ‘to bend, arch over, cover; to deny, to forgive, to be expiated, to renounce.’ The Arabic kafara puts the emphasis on a tight squeeze, such as tucking in the skirts, drawing a thing close to oneself. Closely related are Aramaic and Arabic kafata, meaning ‘a close embrace.’”*
Conjuring the imagery of a quilt, Anderson’s moving imagery of Atonement offers a visual interpretation of kafar—the embrace, the covering, the wrapping tenderly around for protection. For comfort. For warmth. For forgiveness.
*Hugh Nibley, “The Atonement of Jesus Christ, Part 1,” Ensign, July 1990, 18-23.
