Scars
can cut both ways: they can give us a sense of pride or they can retraumatize
by reminding us of the past. With that in mind, tattoo artist Flavia Carvalho
decided to start a project called ‘A Pele da FLor’ (translation: ‘The Skin of
the Flower’). Through this project she offers free services to women who have
scars from domestic abuse.
Flavia
Carvalho runs a studio in Curitiba, Brasil. She’s helped women who have been
stabbed by knives, shot with bullets and covers up mastectomies as well.
As she
explains:
“I
started the project quite recently, and I had no idea it would receive this
much media attention. It began very spontaneously. As I said, my services are a
hundred percent voluntary, and the only “cost” women need to invest is to
choose a design for their tattoos!”
She
tells her story of how it began:
“It all
started about two years ago, when I worked with a client who wanted to cover a
large scar on her abdomen”
“She
told me that she was at a nightclub, and when she turned down a man who
approached her, he stabbed her with an switchblade”
“When
she saw the finished tattoo, she was extremely moved, and that deeply touched
me”
“The
one that shocked me the most was the story of a 17 year-old girl who dated an
older man and, for months, suffered from the physically abusive relationship”
“When
he wanted to break up with her, he scheduled a meeting, and after they began to
fight, he stabbed her several times in her abdomen, and violently raped her”
This
tattoo covers up a scar left by a bullet:
This is
a tattoo she did for a woman who had undergone a mastectomy.
This is a remarkably touching idea; bringing light to otherwise dark situations.
Via : www.davidwolfe.com