Prayer Flags Suspension Bridge (Nepal)
Acrylic on Canvas 18” x 24”, 2018
Have you ever felt suspension...hanging or floating, waiting for an action or response? Did this instability and movement bring feelings of anxiety or excitement? When you approach an obstacle in your life, how do you choose to accept this bump in the path? Are you frozen with fear, or joyful with curiosity?
A simple suspension bridge is a primitive type of bridge that is supported entirely from anchors at either end, leaving the center floating and susceptible to movement and sway. This type of bridge is considered the most efficient and sustainable design in developing countries like Nepal.
People of the Himalayas tie prayer flags to the cables along each side. Traditionally, prayer flags come in sets of five colors: red, yellow, green, blue, white, representing the elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space. Covering the flag are versions of the 400 mantras, Buddhist teachings in the forms of four sacred animals (dragon, garuda, tiger and snow lion), as prayers for the life and fortune of the person tying the flag.
They believe that when the wind blows the flags, its spreads the blessings, good will and compassion, embodied in the images and writings across the land. Eventually the prints fade and the prayers become part of the universe, and the prayer flags are renewed…