"Tightrope Of Prayers" : Original Artwork by Karien Bredenkamp
"Tightrope Of Prayers" : Mat Boards that Original and Limited Edition Prints get shipped in

"Tightrope Of Prayers"

$39.00
Print Or Original?:Limited Edition Print
Quantity:
Only 21 units left

Prints: Limited edition of 25

About The Artwork: 

"Tightrope of Prayers" is a quiet, symbolic black and white art piece that explores grief, devotion, and the tension between memory and movement. At its center is an abstract ant, its body composed of rosary beads, with a flower forming its final segment. Two smaller ants travel beside it, evoking a sense of lineage or witness. This piece reflects the fragility of ritual, the beauty of persistence, and the subtle ways we carry longing through ordinary forms.

Ants are symbols of discipline, endurance, and collective effort. They move forward regardless of obstacles, each small step part of a larger, unseen plan. In mythology and folklore, ants represent diligence, unseen strength, and sometimes the burden of repetitive labor. In this artwork, the ant becomes a vessel for something sacred, transformed by the objects it carries. Its movement suggests a prayer in motion, or a body tracing the same worn path in hope of contact or remembrance.

Rosary beads carry deep spiritual meaning as instruments of devotion and repetition. Traditionally used in Catholic practice, they guide the hands and mind through meditative prayer, offering structure to grief, hope, and surrender. In "Tightrope of Prayers," the rosary is not held but embodied. The ant becomes the prayer itself, suggesting that mourning, longing, and ritual can shape the very form of a being. Touching bead by bead becomes a way to survive the silence.

The flower at the end of the ant's body serves as a soft, unexpected gesture. Flowers are symbols of impermanence, beauty, and emotional offering. They are often used in memorials, both as tribute and release. In this piece, the flower may represent a quiet act of vulnerability or the final unfolding of something carried too long. It reminds us that even in sorrow, there is something still blooming, still tender, still alive.

Together, these elements offer a visual meditation on personal loss and the quiet rituals that keep memory alive. "Tightrope of Prayers" speaks to the way we walk the line between holding on and letting go, how we repeat motions in search of meaning or contact, and how we sometimes become our own prayers in the process. This black and white art piece honors grief not as a failure to move on, but as a form of devotion that transforms the very shape of the self.

"You remember too much,
my mother said to me recently.
Why hold onto all that? And I said,
Where can I put it down?"
― Anne Carson

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