On a trek through the upper Langtang area of Nepal in November 2010, I was overwhelmed by the quiet spirituality of prayer flags that were strung across valleys, on top of mountains, or on rooftops. Some of the flags I use are from photos taken in Nepal while the rest are from the site of the Tibetan refugees in Kerela, Southern India. I transpose them into locations such as Mount Edith Cavell, Mount Lougheed, the Columbia Icefields from Wilcox Pass, and many others.
I have seen prayer flags in the most unusual locations all over the world and admire how Buddhists, Tibetans and Nepalese welcome their distribution worldwide. Most recently, the team behind the 14th Dalai Lama's visit to New Orleans organized residents and businesses to hang Tibetan prayer flags to help convey a warm welcome and relevant message of peace and compassion during his visit to speak on "strength through compassion and connection".
In my recent paintings of the Canadian Rockies, prayer flags fly on my favorite high vistas thereby paying homage to my lifetime commitment to harmony between man and nature and my heartfelt compassion for the Tibetan people living without freedom. I hope my painted installations of prayer flags bring about feelings such as I had digitally placing them there – full of peace and joy, high in the mountains, while connecting rock with infinite space.
The ancient Buddhist prayers, and the wind horse often painted on them, produce a spiritual vibration that is activated and carried by the wind across the mountains. The flags on poles, or strung on string, harmonize the relationship between man and nature while acknowledging some greater power. Each color corresponded to a different element - earth, water, fire, wood, and metal– the fundamental building blocks of man and the environment. According to traditional Tibetan beliefs, health and harmony are produced through the balance of the five elements. The flags have many levels of meaning but simplistically speaking blue symbolizes sky/space, white - air/wind, red - fire, green - water, and yellow symbolizes earth.
I have seen prayer flags in the most unusual locations all over the world and admire how Buddhists, Tibetans and Nepalese welcome their distribution worldwide. Most recently, the team behind the 14th Dalai Lama's visit to New Orleans organized residents and businesses to hang Tibetan prayer flags to help convey a warm welcome and relevant message of peace and compassion during his visit to speak on "strength through compassion and connection".
In my recent paintings of the Canadian Rockies, prayer flags fly on my favorite high vistas thereby paying homage to my lifetime commitment to harmony between man and nature and my heartfelt compassion for the Tibetan people living without freedom. I hope my painted installations of prayer flags bring about feelings such as I had digitally placing them there – full of peace and joy, high in the mountains, while connecting rock with infinite space.
The ancient Buddhist prayers, and the wind horse often painted on them, produce a spiritual vibration that is activated and carried by the wind across the mountains. The flags on poles, or strung on string, harmonize the relationship between man and nature while acknowledging some greater power. Each color corresponded to a different element - earth, water, fire, wood, and metal– the fundamental building blocks of man and the environment. According to traditional Tibetan beliefs, health and harmony are produced through the balance of the five elements. The flags have many levels of meaning but simplistically speaking blue symbolizes sky/space, white - air/wind, red - fire, green - water, and yellow symbolizes earth.
