Prayer - Interior of Naumberg Cathedral 1919

Werner Drewes made this stark black and white woodcut, Prayer - Interior of Naumberg Cathedral, by cutting into a block of wood. Can you imagine him carefully chipping away, letting light emerge from the darkness? I can almost feel his quiet, meditative concentration here, the way he’s built up a kind of sacred space. Those lines shooting upwards, are they light, or are they the fervent energy of prayer itself, rising to the heavens? And what about the solid ray of light, cutting through the darkness – is it hope? It reminds me of some of the German Expressionists, wrestling with spiritual themes using stark contrasts. I think of folks like Lyonel Feininger and his gothic cathedrals. I can almost hear the echoes in this print, a conversation across time and images. It’s like the artists are praying together for light.