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GULAB JAMUN “AYLA” BATIK PATTERN

Batik is an art created from different wax techniques and designs. Batik is a method in which the colour is blocked to shape a fabric pattern. The techniques for producing batik themes rely on time and space. In the early 20th century, batik started and grew its development particularly in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu. Traditional batik design has generally been produced in the past using block batik techniques, batik screen techniques, and batik canting techniques that create beautiful fabric effects. Today, because of its expressive batik products, contemporary batik products gain interest in the public eye.

The pattern of my Batik is named ‘Ayla’. ‘Ayla’ is a feminine given name in Turkish, Hindi, Spanish and Scottish. The Hindu version originating from Sanskrit, means “light”, "earth", "born of knowledge”, in Turkish, it means "halo of light around the moon”

‘Ayla’ was inspired by an Indian cuisine dessert which is Gulab Jamun. Gulab jamun is a milk-solid-based sweet from the Indian subcontinent. It is made mainly from milk solids, traditionally from khoya, which is milk reduced to the consistency of a soft dough. It is often garnished with dried nuts such as almonds and cashews to enhance flavour.

The original hyper-realistic drawing for the dessert was bite-size of gulab jamun served on a round plate with sugar syrup and cardamoms as decorations. After choosing the right section from the hyper-realistic drawing, which is in the middle of the plate, the area will become the repeat unit for the pattern. All the shapes from the area of the square were geometricized and extracted into a basic shape of geometry and all the complex lines were simplified. The design used a ‘mirror’ repeat pattern technique were from a single element that was repeated and rotated again and again until the final perfect whole pattern composition was produced.

As for the colour scheme for this pattern, the art movement and style that has been applied is impressionism. Mostly, impressionism used greys and dark tones that are produced by mixing complementary colours. The colour of this pattern was inspired by one of Claude Monet’s paintings. From his colour palette, olive green, wood brown, and golden yellow have been selected as the final colour scheme. Olive green represents the classical and traditional, golden yellow shows the freshness, and wood brown as stability and warmth.

‘Ayla’ is a whole new modern yet classic Batik that will expose the younger generation to the cultural heritage of the nation. Nowadays, Batik design can be used as clothes, accessories, home décor, and many more in daily life. ‘Ayla’ has a very unique pattern that combines the basic organic geometry in traditional and modern art that suits everyone. Hopefully, more younger generations will involve and explore more in Batik without forgetting the traditional origin of batik in Malaysia.