PRAYING FLAG

Digital print and screen print on cotton paper.
60 x 50 cm (23.62 x 19.68 in)
2022

In this work, Aldo hand-painted the sails of his sailboat with a pattern inspired by Islamic geometry, transforming the vessel into a navigable sculpture. The project draws on the reference of Buddhist prayer flags—textiles inscribed with prayers that, when moved by the wind, disperse their message into space.

Praying Flags turns the sails into carriers of a ritual gesture: once unfurled at sea, the painting is activated by the force of wind and waves. The repetitive geometry of the design evokes an infinite echo, linking the practice of sailing to a symbolic and spiritual dimension.

For several years, Chaparro sailed with these painted sails until the natural wear caused by wind and sea eventually tore them apart. He then chose to remove them, cut them into fragments, and mount them on stretcher frames, transferring their ephemeral character onto a new support.

The print is a photograph of selected sail fragments, preserved as a material memory of that experience.

*Frame is not included.

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