"An eternal dance" is a infinite flipping card, showcasing handprinted henna design and illustrations as well as poetry about the beauty of culture. The project was inspired by the Gujarati dance called Garba.
Inspiration
"An eternal dance" was made during a Gujarati holiday called Navarati, a week of celebrating the nine Goddesses of the Hindu religion. During the celebration, individuals all around the world gather together to dance for the Goddesses. The dance is called Garba; simple steps that everyone who celebrate know to do. Some dances require decorative sticks called dandiyas. I wanted to explore culture and dance through art and poetry and used silhouettes of female dancers using dandiyas in the card. I paired Garba with henna designs to emphasize the colour and beauty of the Gujarati celebrations.
Back in 2012, I received a card in the mail that folded infinitely. Whatever advertisement it was for failed to do its job as I only remember the card itself. Intrigued by the design, I spent several hours poking and prying at the seams. Eventually, I understood how the card worked and created a special birthday card for a friend. Fast-forward to 2019, I wanted to recreate the card as a piece of art.
Printing Process
I took about 4 days to design and print the cards. I started by figuring out the layout as the end product would mean seeing different pieces of a paper at a time. I had to figure out the space for art and writing.
After the layout, I wrote the poem. The poem reflected the emotions of Navarati and Garba. For the henna designs on the card, I used henna on paper. Then, I took a picture of the result and traced over it digitally, keeping as much of the natural imperfection that can be seen when putting henna on skin or paper. I handwrote the poem digitally with the designs, printed it, exposed it on silkscreen, and printed each layer by hand. To finalize the piece, I cut the paper and glued the corners.
Watch me make the infinity card dance at the Made By Feminist maker's fair in Toronto, Ontario:
Interested in checking out an eternal dance for yourself? Check out The inPrint Collective's Etsy page here!
Special thanks to the inPrint Collective for this opportunity.
Links:
*All images in this post were taken by Bijal or have permission from the photographer to use.