KOCHI: For Kannur-based balloon artist Shijina Preeth, crafting balloons into interesting shapes is a passion. The fastest balloon artist in the country according to India Book of Records, she is also the first one to conduct a balloon fashion show in Asia. “I had designed about 117 dresses as part of the fashion show, which took me over a year,” she said. She also entered Asia book of Records for making the most number of balloon designs. Based in Trivandrum, she has been staging her skills for over six years.
Apart from being fun, balloon art by Shijina also deals with relevant social issues. Recently, she made a crab using balloons on World Cancer Day. “When I read about such things on the newspaper, I tend to bring it in my art,” she said. Shijina had also created a forest using balloons as part of the wildlife week celebrations of state forest department in October 2019.
The installation that was nearly six feet tall was installed near the department’s entrance for one week. Trees, vines, waterfall, butterflies, lion and giraffe were some of the balloon models she created within the installation. “I use quality balloons imported from Italy. They cost more than normal ones and are more heat resistant,” she said.
Shijina’s husband Preeth Azhikode is India’s fastest mind reader while her seven-year-old daughter Jwala Preeth is the youngest balloon artist in the country. However, Shijina admits that it was tough to become successful, as people knew very little about balloon modelling. Although Shijina was taught the basics of balloon modelling by Tamil Nadu-based artist Janam Jannu, she learnt the advanced concepts on her own. “I used to watch YouTube videos of balloon art. Initially, I used to fear that the balloon might burst in front of my audience,” she said.