Body Art

Today's been a ponderous day. I went for a windy, autumnal bike ride and really enjoyed all of the beautiful colours that are found in nature, this time of the year. I also decided to visit an art gallery because of my interest in an artist called Hetain patel. He uses henna/mendhi art to decorate his body. How truly beautiful and erotic that a man paints and decorates himself like this? Although he isn't doing this for the sake of beauty but more out of curiosty and confusion around the issue of identity for second generation Asians.

I quote...

"The concerns in my practice revolve around the displacement of Indian culture to the UK and how this goes about shaping my identity as a British Indian.Identity confusion in second generation immigrants comes from the fact that we have never experienced our parents’ ‘home land’ culture in the totality of its original context. Specifically in my case I was born and raised in England, not India. And although I lead a largely western lifestyle, I still feel rooted within certain Indian ideals. The question is, to what extent?"

http://www.hetainpatel.com/index.php

Henna as a medium, is quite difficult but beautiful to work with. I used to spend ages decorating my own hand and arm, with henna. It has one of the most 'earthy' smells I've ever come across. In teaching sessions too, I've often used Mendhi art as a vehicle to motivate people successfully.
I urge anyone who has an interest in body art, to visit this exhibition and find yourself en-tranced by this wonderful artist's work.