Ushna

Ushna – Einstein Medical School, Bronx, New York

  I did a background color of darker purple to bluish. I think I’m a calm person, so I think these colors are calming, and they’re not very in-your-face. But I did darker to lighter because I think I’m an optimistic person, so that means I think I look to the bright side of things. I think I try to look for the happy things, even if sometimes there are things that go bad.

And I do a flower over my mouth because I have always been a little bit quieter, a little bit shy. But I’ve been trying to open up more and talk to people more, and be more open, so it’s representing that opening up, but the flower is still there. So, some part of me is still a little shy, but I try to overcome.

And these designs on my nose and the rest of the face, they’re somewhat cultural. So, I am from Pakistan, but I grew up in the US, so I don’t feel as close to the country, so I didn’t want to do the flag because I haven’t lived in the country for very long, and I haven’t visited often. So, I did things that symbolize my culture from there because I think I’m very close to my culture.

So, this is a henna design, these both things are. And the colors are very similar to the colors that are on many things in the culture, in the clothing, the festivities, the colors they use, especially gold. They use a lot of gold. And on the side, I chose this loop-type design because I think there are many different parts of life that change and go different ways and come out of nowhere when you don’t see them coming. But I think they can all combine, and you can see it in a way that’s beautiful, and something that builds up.

And here, I left this blank because I think there is a lot about my life I don’t know yet. So, there’s things about me that I’m going to find out later on, and things that are gonna happen that I won’t see, but that are gonna be a big part of me.