Thursday, May 19, 2022

'A sign of beauty': Henna artist details traditions, practice of cultural body art


Baylee DeMuth, Erie Times-News
Wed, May 18, 2022

For as long as Jasmine Shaik can remember, she's been surrounded by henna body art.

Growing up in India, Shaik, 21, attended many different events where henna — temporary body art resulting from the staining of the skin from dyes — played an important role.

"We do it for every single occasion, like birthdays, weddings, festivals or holidays," Shaik said. "Anything to just be fancy because it's just a sign of beauty. It's kind of like makeup, so we do it very often."

Shaik was 11, and at her aunt's wedding, when she moved off the sidelines and started doing henna herself.

"There was another henna lady, but it took so long (for her to henna others) and the bride still needed to get hers done," Shaik said. "But since it crossed midnight, the girl had to leave, so there was nobody to do the henna except me. I did both of her hands and it's kind of a memorable experience for me because that was my first wedding henna."

Shaik said she was up until 4 a.m. finishing her aunt's henna. Even though she didn't have enough time to cover her aunt's feet, Shaik was proud of herself for completing her first real henna. It was the first of many experiences she would continue to have in India and then eventually the United States.
Sharing a cultural tradition

When Shaik's family moved from India to Erie in 2016, Shaik brought her love of the body art with her.

"After coming here I learned that people love henna, so it's kind of like, a positive plus for my artistic skills," she said.

Shaik graduated from Mercyhurst University this month, where she studied art therapy. She plans to take a gap year and then attend graduate school for psychology. She said she utilized aspects of henna throughout her studies.

"I think this is also kind of a therapeutic thing," Shaik said. "You can just do henna and be lost within it."

It didn't take long for her to start practicing her artistic skills at various cultural events for the Erie Asian Pacific American Association. For those events, Shaik said she can complete henna on a person's hand in five to 10 minutes. The dye Shaik typically uses during cultural events lasts up to a week, but other dye can last up to 20 days, Shaik said.


In early May, Erie APAA hosted its 13th annual Multicultural Asia Day. Shaik spent the afternoon doing henna for visitors, including Barbara Hossain. Hossain, an Edinboro resident, is no stranger to Shaik's work.

"I’ve known Jasmine since she was little; she goes to our mosque," Hossain said. "At these common events when she’s doing the henna I always get in line to do it because she has some nice artistry and she goes with the pictures, but also with what she feels, and I’m like that, too."

Hossain usually asks Shaik to create a simple design, which can include various flowers, vines or hearts. Hossain has been exposed to other henna artists but said Shaik's artistry doesn't compare.

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"Jasmine’s sweet and I love her as a person," Hossain said. "She listens to what I say and she always adds in a little extra, which is so lovely."

Shaik is happy to henna anybody, even if they're not of Asian descent. Even though anybody can get it, whether it's at festivals or county fairs, Shaik doesn't feel like her culture is being appropriated.

"It's interesting that others are interested in it, because it's kind of like a temporary tattoo," Shaik said. "There's not like a specific reason or spiritual thing to it. It's just a sign of beauty, it's just a cultural thing south Asian people do."
Form of artistic expression

Since her aunt's wedding, Shaik has been hired for many more weddings, covering not only the hands and arms, but the feet and legs, too. It can take up to 5 hours to finish wedding henna, Shaik said.

Shaik bases her designs off photos, but will occasionally put her own artistic twist to it, adding "mango" or "peacock" shapes as she goes.


Shown on May 13, 2022, Jasmine Shaik, 21, was introduced to henna when she was 5 years old. Now, she hennas at birthdays, weddings and various events, sharing the body art's culture with others.

"It's just my creative mind, I guess," Shaik said. "I've been doing it a long time so I know what I'm doing, and if they don't like it, I kind of just alter it."

Shaik hasn't yet grown tired of her work as a henna artist.

"I'm like, so into it," she said. "I thought of being a biology major when I went to start college first, but then I got into art. This is what I want to do. I've just had this thing for art since childhood."

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Henna artist Jasmine Shaik shares traditions of body art practice

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