Meraki (Greek): doing something with soul, creativity, or love; putting something of yourself into your work.
Humna Mustafa is a ceramist who narrates stories in a unique way: she depicts
human stories through henna patterns inscribed on ceramic objects.
This unique art form emerged when her fascination with people and their
stories, her love for henna designs and their symbolism, and her keen love for
pottery amalgamated into one creation. It felt right bringing these ancient
crafts together in the form of her ceramics collection.
‘I have a passion for creating patterns, inspired mostly by Islamic Art,
on ceramics, paper, silk, wood, human body, walls and any other possible
canvas.
Making individual art
pieces and beautified hand-crafted objects, to bring a smile to someone, is my
goal in life.’
Her inspiration for her craft is her family and religion; living in
Pakistan, Australia and the UK; her travels across cultures; and her interactions
with people sans any kind of borders, so the palette is a mix of vibrant
and pastel colours, and the patterns include Islamic art symmetry, William Morris
florals, and the dots of Aboriginal art.
In Humna’s Meraki Collection, every piece is a solo story with an
individual pattern and a unique colour combination, never to be copied or
repeated again - like fingerprints. Her interactions with people are imprinted
in this collection: their feelings are the colour, their stories are the patterns.
As a child, Humna would hear her father say, ‘The only reason people earn
is to put food on the table for their loved ones. Food brings and keeps families
together.’ The Meraki Collection honors the effort people make to put
food on the table for their families.
The collection consists of decorative chutney bowls, cereal
bowls, salad bowls, and chai beakers. Humna wants her pieces to be used in everyday life
instead of only looking pretty. She wants the owners of the pieces to hold them
to feel the connection and experience the stories she has poured into them,
just like a handshake.
‘I believe all objects contain an energy that embodies a feeling. Each
piece in this collection captures an essence, with references to moments that inspired
me.’
Each piece also holds a secret: it hides an imperfection in the patterns.
It may look perfect, just like we pretend to be perfect, but the imperfections do
exist. Humna chooses to celebrate these imperfections in her pieces, in
herself, and in the people around her.
The henna patterns are both decorative and symbolic. Leaves depict a desire
to grow internally, to nurture the nature existing within us. The dots signify endless and limitless possibilities
to grow and evolve in any way and any direction we desire – ‘unginnat’
possibilities, as the artist terms it. The arches denote the ‘mehrab’ of
mosques and show Humna’s close affiliation with her spirituality and culture.
‘Family of Six’ is a set of chutney bowls inspired
by Humna’s family of parents and siblings. The bowls share similarities and
differences in their shape, size, colours and patterns, just like her family
members are different and yet the same. Each
piece is intricately worked with borders, leaves and dots in different colours,
showing the family members’ interconnection, growth and trajectory.
‘Solo Stories’ are narrated in pairs of chai
beakers and chutney, cereal, and salad bowls. They are about the people she has met in her
local and foreign stays and travels and in her personal and work experiences.
Working with people for up to fifteen hours in intricate mehndi applications
created stories and connections that she has re-created in these pieces. Some
patterns , like the people she met, are wild and free, spreading outwardly,
while some are inward-looking and stream-lined.
‘The chai beakers are an ode to our chai culture where
people form connections whilst cradling endless cups of chai. I made
these beakers without handles so that they can be held close, to feel the
vibes.’
‘Time’ is a set of six extremely detailed cereal bowls done
in blue. The bowls record her evolution from the time she left home for her
studies to the present time after the birth of her daughter. They chart the
various stages of her journey – being engrained with the tenets of her culture
and religion; breaking free of the moulds in which she grew; blooming in her
own right and exploring a new country and culture and people; facing racism and
negativity post 9/11; understanding and accepting her own identity; and
embracing differences. In the last piece
speckled with dots she finally finds her place as things fall into place. There
are ‘unginnat’ possibilities and opportunities to grow in any direction;
nothing is written in stone.
‘Every time and place changes us to make us a different person. It is
important to give yourself the time to evolve and become what you are capable
of becoming.’
All the pieces are a reflection and an acknowledgement of Humna’s feelings
towards her parents. (Blue is her father’s favourite colour, and her love for
patterns is inherited from her mother who used to sketch floral patterns in
books and papers, which Humna would collect as mementos.)
In The Meraki Collection, Humna has poured her soul into the
moulds, using patterns instead of words to narrate the stories of people she
has met.
‘All our stories are similar. We may think we have a unique path, but at
the core of our being we are all connected and the same. We tend to not share our
stories because we are afraid of being judged for our choices, but we end up
locking ourselves away. If we open up, we will encourage others to open up too,
and that is how we will find the connections.
In my ceramic pieces, you will naturally be attracted to the piece whose
story is similar to yours. You will have found a connection.’
Humna is a Textile Print Design graduate of Indus Valley
School of Arts.
