My gesture is small. It's the simple movement of writing ones name. It's a movement that, while seemingly insignificant, enables a person to distribute a small piece of there identity. Names are what we exchange with greetings and how we identify one another in a larger group of people. They are a big part of society. We find ourselves explaining to others how our names and the names of our families came about.
As a child I was elated over the knowledge of how to write my name. It was the first thing I learned to write. Often, it's the first thing many children learn to write. Over time, the physical task of writing ones identifier becomes monotonous, and even forgotten. It's a motion committed to muscle memory at an early age and most people pay little to no attention to it.
Applying henna paste in any design takes a lot of patience. Every stroke is methodical. It goes a lot slower then writing a name with a marker, pen or pencil. In covering the left half of my body with my name using henna I'm solidifying how I am identified into my skin. It was a very tedious and frustrating process and it will be there for a week and half. It has been less than 24 hrs and I have already been approached about the repetitions on my skin by a variety of people.
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