Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo by Stephanie Psarros

43x52cm

Uttanasana With The Adi Mantra, 2022

Thread and screen print on Japanese paper

43x52cm

Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo

I bow to the Creative Wisdom, I bow to the Divine Teacher within.

The works here are derived from the love of the body and of prayer. There are drawings and prints of the body in the flow of yoga practices as well as some stitched mantras and prayers. Through the repetition of singing or chanting mantras one can feel connected to everything and everyone. The heart opens allowing for our inherent and undeniable connection to one another. On a personal level, singing mantras, particularly in a group setting, is an elevating and emotional feeling. Just like a crowd singing altogether at a concert, there is an indisputable feeling of unity. In a time when opposites feel emphasised and perhaps even encouraged, what more of a perfect reason to become aware of spiritual connection; believing in something bigger than us, connecting with it and feeling that we are supported by these forces that are greater than us. We are born as spiritual beings connected to each other and always will be. This is our true nature and as individuals it is invaluable to us to find ways of opening our hearts so that we can live in this way.

Yoga is a physical form of prayer; an intention is set, one comes into their breath and flows through a moving meditation. The body is magnificent, it can morph and mould into different shapes of which these possibilities seem endless. In these drawings the intention is to capture the figure through gesture.

Everything holds energy, so by sewing these mantras Stephania tries to hold the intentions of these prayers. The words hold their meanings and in the case of these stitchings they become tangible; they are not simply words on paper rather the words come to life as a result of their movement through the paper. On one side they are recognisable and on the other they are illegible, yet they are there; a language still giving the energy of what the words mean. The mantras are Sanskrit and are sewn in Latin characters, Sanskrit is the oldest unchanged language on Earth.

Stephania Psarros was born in London and is now living in Athens. She went to School of Visual Arts in New York City and received her BFA in 2010.