The Indian Artist: Henna Artist to the Stars

Good morning everyone! I hope that you are all doing well. Hopefully this beautiful weather that we are having is here to stay, but knowing Michigan, we could get snow tomorrow!

I have written about a few different traditional-medium artists that inspire me. I thought that it would only be right to write about a wonderful Indian henna artist. Neha Assar is a Los Angeles project engineer in the oil and gas industry by day and a henna artist by night. I respect her so much as she was able to find a healthy balance working as a professional henna artist on the side while focusing on her full-time career in engineering.

The process of applying bridal henna takes anywhere from five to nine hours depending on whether the design moves up to the elbows up past the biceps. Generally, bridal henna includes adorning both sides of the arms as well as the tops of the feet. Assar’s artistic inspirations include patterns in nature, Rajasthani art, and world architecture. She’s even taken inspiration from the shape of a tree, she said.

As explained in an article with NBC News, Assar has applied henna on approximately 1,000 brides. Most recently, her work has been modeled during L.A. Fashion Week, where she designed a sari blouse on a nude model which took approximately three hours to complete. She has also created henna crowns for cancer patients which is a beautiful application of this Indian art form used in a way that gives other people peace and joy.

Henna is a beautiful form of art that Neha Assar is working to bring to the spotlight. Having done mehndi on celebrities like Rihanna and Shay Mitchell, Neha has earned her title as the “Henna artist for the Stars”. I have attached her links below as well as the article with NBC.

https://www.instagram.com/nehaassar/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/neha-assar-henna-artist-stars-n662226

As always, if anything that I discussed in this post stands out, or if any questions arise please feel free to comment and share your thoughts!

Looking forward to next Sunday!

~ Riya

Instagram: @riya_aggarwal.art

Personal website: https://theindianartist.weebly.com/