Mary Heebner’s Latest Work at Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery

Inspired by a combination of her travels, concern for the planet, and reflections during the recent pandemic, multimedia artist Mary Heebner’s new exhibition, Prayer Flags & a Tale of Longing, is on view at the Architectural Foundation Gallery from September 10 to November 5, with an opening reception on Friday, September 9, from 5-7 p.m.

Discussing the inspiration for her book, Prayer Flags & A Tale of Longing, Heebner said it came in the midst of the COVID pandemic. “This prolonged period of distress is also a time of reflection, perhaps of hope. Mother Earth is certainly taking a breather, as we suffer our losses and envision how best to move forward, as it becomes unavoidably clear that this whole world is connected, is one, and that there is no return to what we called ‘normal’ — only a move forward, with eyes wide open, somewhat together.”

Heebner’s daughter Sienna Craig, an anthropologist whose work focuses on culturally Tibetan areas in Mustang, Nepal, and abroad, taught her that the colors in traditional Tibetan prayer flags refer to each of the five elements — yellow for earth, green for air, red for fire, white for water, and blue for aether. “So I set about writing my own prayers to those elements as I reflected on them during this era of global warming, climate change, environmental distress, extinctions, and social migration.”