Etienne Chambaud Uncreature, 2023

Quiet gazes appear to issue forth from Chambaud’s series Uncreatures. The historical icons, panel paintings of religious figures represented against a golden background—the symbol of divine light—have been modified and the figures, except for their eyes, covered entirely with gold leaf. The chromatic difference between recently applied and original gilding, perhaps paradoxically, makes visible the outline of the hidden figure. Their gaze acts as a spatial marker, emanating from the expanse in a certain direction, but also a temporal one, as if the observer were encountering not just a representation but its spectral presence.

The artist's interest in icons stems from their singular status among images: produced within a religious context, icons are made by human producers but considered divine. They represent a divine presence which is considered eternal, that is it existed before the image was made. Paradoxically, it is considered a divine creation, even as it was produced by human artist. By covering the figures with gold leaf, Chambaud redacts this presence of the divine again, keeping the work in a tension of presence and absence. He creates an absence.