Henna Inspired

Henna Inspired is the Malden-based business of artist Karyn Alzayer, who creates temporary henna body art drawn by hand with safe, natural, homemade henna paste. She serves clients across Greater Boston and beyond, and she often lets the design unfold as she works rather than planning it in advance, shaped by each person’s hand and the connection between artist and recipient. She also makes fiber art and paintings, applying acrylic paint with a traditional henna cone in designs that mix Indian, Middle Eastern and North African styles with modern abstraction.

Alzayer has been a practicing artist since 2012, after nearly a decade as an elementary school music teacher, a background she draws on when teaching classes and leading group projects. She is best known for Caged Ducklings, a 2019 piece that placed cages and mylar blankets over the Make Way for Ducklings sculpture in the Boston Public Garden as a statement on child separation, which was featured across national news outlets. Her work often sits where art and activism meet.

What to Know

• Alzayer was a featured artist for Street Pianos Boston in 2016.
• She was the selected artist for the Dedham Bunny Project in 2018.
• Her traveling participatory projects include Wishing Wall for Everett and Catching Malden’s Dreams.
• She serves as President and Executive Director of Integral Arts Everett, a nonprofit arts organization.