Vision Statement:
Celebrating cultural differences through the art of design
I create in the traditional Desi art form of henna, also called mehndi, where I draw beautiful and intricate designs on the skin which will stain for up to 10 days! I can do both "traditional" designs and more contemporary "tattoo" style designs. I grew up in Saudi Arabia with my Pakistani family
esigns on each other's hands and feet! They did it for us younger babies, as well, though they would just fill a pan with mehndi (henna)and helping us press our whole hand into it. We thought we were so cool with our huge mehndi "blop" on our hands. Moving back to America to live with my American family in my teenage years, I somehow forgot about the actual tradition of drawing with mehndi, but i never forgot the style, I would draw in Desi style all over my hands and the hands of all of my friends with pens or markers. You could also find Desi remnants in all of my artwork, which I never seemed to notice. After visiting my family in Pakistan for the first time, in about 10 years ago, I got to experience a Pakistani wedding! The bride's hands and feet were so delicately designed with so many different elements that seemed to flow seamlessly from her elbows to her fingertips! All of the younger cousins, and I, did mehndi on each other and that is when I remembered where my love for this design style originally sparked! After coming back home to America, I began to practice and learn more about natural henna and how to make it myself! I made many friends in the U.S. henna community through Facebook and eventually gained enough courage to start sharing my artform at events. I have now been doing henna at events, personal appointments, and parties for almost 7 years now and it has become my full-time job! I cannot express how blessed and honored I feel to be able to draw closer to my heritage with every design I draw and to be able to share this beautiful artform and culture with others.
