ENTRY NO.
ENTRY NO.
Batik is both an art and a craft that is a wonderful creative medium and becoming increasingly popular also well known among contemporary artists around the world. This ancient art form has become a traditional art form in some culture. They consist of fabrics made with wax and resistant dye. Batik created in some cultures has a long history of acculturation, with a number of cultures influencing different styles, and is the most advanced in terms of pattern, technique, and workmanship quality.
The pattern of my Batik was inspired by a Chinese cuisine dessert which is mooncake. Mooncake is a cultural food that is eaten during the Mid Autumn Festival which shows celestial appreciation and the observation of the moon. Mooncakes are considered an important delicacy and oftenly offered at family gatherings or amongst friends when celebrating the festival which is why in my point of view it is related to batik where we usually used it as cloth and suitable to be worn at any occasion by family and friends that shows appreciation towards the traditional arts.
The motif I chose was a mooncake on a square wood plate. This is why you can see a square shape like a grid in my pattern. The mooncake comes with a variety of pattern on top of it. A plum blossom pattern was chosen and simplified it in conjunction of Mid Autumn Festival. After choosing the composition of my mooncake, which is the corner of the square wood plate with a half moon cake, the motif was geometrisize with a basic geometry and all the complex lines were simplified. The design used a ’mirror’ repeat patterns technique from a single element and the single element were repeated again and again until the whole pattern composition is done.
As for the colour scheme, the art style that inspired me for my colour scheme is art nouveau. I choose art nouveau because of its style where there's a flower connected with the pattern of my mooncake. Mostly, art nouveau use pastel colour. Some expert said in Javanese Royalty, Batik was initially reserved for Javanese royalty as an art form and the patterns were reserved to be worn only by royalty from the palace of the Sultan. This is why I chose gold and ivory colour from the art nouveau colour scheme and also green as a contrast colour to make my Batik look luxury and exclusive.
This is a whole new modern Batik that will introduce the country’s cultural heritage to the younger generation, that wanted uniqueness in their everyday styling. Either to wear it for any occasion or daily style when going out with family and friends. Pastel colours were chosen in the art nouveau infused a more youth-friendly colours and pattern which is close to minimalist, less variety of colour and not too bright. The expectation is that younger generations will welcome Batik, giving hope to many in preserving this traditional art form for the future generation.