When we think of henna art, we think of patterns and motifs, of earthy and terracotta colours. Not Karthine. Her Instagram page is bursting with bright colours and filled with dynamic artwork that ranges from intricate henna patterns to henna as paintings and illustrations. In her more recent works, Karthine experimented with henna and paint to create colourful body art.
How did it all start? What was her breakthrough?
Karthine’s journey began with her drawing henna patterns at a young age. She would doodle flowers and shapes during her free time at home or in school. Her hobby eventually developed into a business — mostly for brides as it’s a tradition for Malay and Indian brides to have henna drawn on their hands.
As time progressed, Karthine’s style evolved from traditional patterns to pictures of pets, city skylines, caricatures of couples, and baby footprints — just to name a few. It was a burgeoning trend in the global henna community. Modern brides like having a personal touch to their henna artwork. After all, it is their special day, and art should tell a story.
What truly set Karthine apart is her experimentation with henna and paint. It started with her friend asking if she could do a tribute to actor Will Smith and legendary voice actor Robin Williams as Genie(s) in Aladdin. At this point, Karthine had already explored recreating movie posters with henna but kept to the traditional brown colours.
It was only when her friend innocently suggested adding colours to the drawing of the two Genies that Karthi ventured into creating colourful body art. She was thrilled at the idea of trying something new and immediately took some watercolour to paint on her friend’s back.
To her friend, that was just another fun project. To Karthine, it was a defining moment of accepting herself as an artist.
“I had this misconception that I can only become an artist when I have my work exhibited. It took me years to accept that I’m also an artist and not just a henna artist. If I limit myself as a henna artist, I’m only going to look at that one medium. When I see myself as an artist, I think of other ways to create body art. Once I accepted myself as an artist, that became a gateway to endless possibilities.” — Karthine Maniam.
In her subsequent pop-culture-inspired artwork, Karthine moved from using watercolour to bodypaint. It gave her art a thicker texture and in overall, a holistic finish. Bodypaint complements well with the viscosity of the henna paste. Who would have thought to combine henna and paint?
It takes an open mind and a bold heart to colour outside the lines.
“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” — Joseph Chilton Pearce.
As creative people, whether an artist, writer, musician, or scientist, we mustn’t box ourselves to our titles for it will limit our potential and work. More importantly, we mustn't be afraid to fail. All new ideas require a few pilot tests before it becomes good, but never perfect. Perfection is the end of progress. You may be the best, but the best is not necessarily perfect. We mustn’t strife perfection but progress.
After all, it was Karthine’s first attempt with watercolour that opened the door to a more sophisticated version of her mixed medium artwork, now decorated with real flowers.
But perhaps, the most important is to be authentic. As the picture tells us, to embrace ourselves and the beauty within us. Don’t say: “I’m an aspiring artist.” Tell yourself: “I’m an artist”, and in time, you’ll be just that.
“Attempts at originality can often feel forced and precious, but authenticity has quiet resonance that never fails to stir me.” — Elizabeth Gilbert.
