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Growing up as Malaysians, we often hear the word ‘diversity’ and ‘multiculturalism’ that embodies the country itself. As a result of this, we attain all sorts of cultural heritage that is to be cherished for. The art of Batik is undeniably one of them. Seeing how unique every design is in the making of batik, I present this motif of mine as one of them.

The original concept of the pattern is derived from a traditional dish of the Kadazan-Dusun called Hinava Tontidok. It is commonly found in their heritage festival which is Tadau Kaamatan. This festival marks the beginning of the harvest season. Its purpose is to involve the society in the act of gratitude to the deity. The story behind it is that their God had sacrificed his daughter at the time when people were burdened by a horrendous famine. Owing to this, their land flourished and no longer faced scarcity.

The word 'Hinava' on the whole indicates that it is a no-cook dish. Meanwhile 'Tontidok' is what they call a banana heart blossom which is the main ingredient of the cuisine. Other than the banana heart blossom, different ingredients like chilli, onion and lime juice are also included. From a realistic painting of the dish I made, a section of it is extracted out to study more about the forms and shapes that exist. Due to the irregularity of the delicacy's semblance, a variety of shapes in different configurations are obtained such as quadrilaterals, parabola and ellipses. After much alteration and simplification of the composition, the final form of shapes is produced as shown.

The primary ordering principle used is symmetry which can be seen from the balanced distribution of similar shapes on differing sides of a dividing plane. Mirroring technique is used to create this effect. Other than that, a subtle element of datum could also be examined by the continuity of vertical shapes in the pattern that equally divides the composition. On the other hand, the spatial organization included are centralized and radial organization. This may be seen in the extending form of the curvatures from a central space of each unit of the motif.

As for the colour scheme, it is inspired by the impressionism art movement. To be more specific, it is heavily influenced by some of Claude Monet’s colour palette. It consists of varying pure light colours of green, blue, yellow and vermillion. These shades are displayed in the pattern as it is pleasing to the eye and are not intensely saturated. With this, it gives the motif a little twist to what traditional batik colour palettes usually has.

In essence, batik has a tremendous potential to grow as a cultural heritage that conserves our tradition. Although as customary as it may seem, people nowadays should not be afraid to explore it further. This would open up the opportunity for us to innovate art without leaving behind the roots of our inheritance. Henceforth, our homeland at the same time can be well-known for its exquisite artistry.