Erin Carter: I'll Leave the Light On

Artist Statement

Medieval theology understood Catholic Mass as a representation of the Crucifixion. Historically a screen or rood screen was a specific kind of barrier in the church, accentuating the tension between concealment and revelation. It functioned to divide the building where the consecration of the Eucharist would take place from the congregation. Parishioners were able to see the movement of the bread being elevated through the holes of the screen, allowing them to witness the most holy part of the mass while being distinctly partitioned. Drawing from formative experiences in Catholic school, doctrine teaches that this moment witnesses Christ’s body offered again, bread and wine changing into the Body and Blood of Christ. “I’ll Leave the Light On,” is a durational installation that restages this logic visually. A lit candle in the window signaled safety and welcome during penal repression against Catholics. Here it serves to resurrect Christ and loop the animation, emphasizing the cyclical nature of indoctrination reminisscent of the stations of the cross, a catholic devotional ritual commemorating Christ’s passion and death. The sculptural element is made of found objects, specifically the screen door from my childhood home, where years of wear scratched into the surface breaches the partition in the bottom corner. As the film projects oon and through the grid of the screen it creates a varied image based on the viewer’s position around the object, emphaszing sacred reality as present, but not perceptible, reinforcing obscurity as truth making authority necessary.

2026 VADS - People's Choice Voting

About the Project

  • Title of Work: I'll Leave the Light On
  • Medium: Projection on sculpture to be displayed in a semi dark setting (non direct light). The sculpture is a screen door suspended from the ceiling by fabric curtains, roughly 8 ft. tall by 3 ft. wide, to be set about a foot away from the wall. Animation is 1 minute long and can be looped. 
  • Student's Name: Erin Carter
  • Major: Art
  • Anticipated Graduation Date: 26-May
  • Hometown: Columbia, Missouri
  • Student's Mentor: Alejandra Salinas
  • Mentor's Department: Art

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