Butterfly, lend me your wings, I pray,
Lend me your wings for a golden day,
I would fly over the bush and tree,
Over the children that play with me. -Anette Wynn
The butterfly has often been the subject of poets to mean multiple things; beauty, freedom, & life for example. It has the image to conjure up transformative healing and hope, rebirth and renewal. Inspired by the small winged creature, “Lend me your wings, I pray” is an artwork commissioned for Thomson’s hospital. A sculptural piece that greets patients and visitors as they step into the airy atrium of the hospital. Inspired by tiny nanostructures on transparent butterfly wings, the sculpture evokes a butterfly’s rapid wing movement. Multiple motions coalesce into a rhythmic pattern. The iridescent colour of the piece owes itself to the multi-spectral colours found on butterfly wings, arising from photonic-nanostructures on their scales. Its brightness and colour-changing with the surrounding environment. Similarly the artwork shifts in colour depending on the lighting ambiance and the angle of view when one moves through the space. “Lend me your wings, I pray” is an invitation to wonder, and more importantly to dream and hope, for visitors and patients alike.
Lend me your wings, I pray (2021)
Location: Thomson Hospital Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.