Flavia Carvalho started tattooing victims of violence into order to make a difference in their healing process. She told the Huffington Post:
“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 a switchblade. When she saw the finished tattoo, she was extremely moved, and that deeply touched me.”
Unfortunately, many of the stories behind the tattoos that Carvalho gives are similar. Still, Carvalho’s designs give new significance to the scars, which become part of a beautiful, hopeful future.
This tattoo is both deeply symbolic and also represents a challenging chapter in the recipient’s life. The woman who requested this tattoo spent two years living on the streets as an addict. During that time, she encountered unspeakable violence, including the shotgun fire that left this scar. Carvalho turned the woman’s scars into a phoenix, symbolizing rising from the ashes.
The young woman who received this tattoo was shot in the knee by her ex. Carvalho turned the painful memory around by depicting a cute, uplifting owlet.
It’s hard to see a painful past in this joyful scene of birds and flowers. But they cover up the scars of attempted murder. The woman who received this tattoo was stabbed in the stomach and she sustained additional scars from the medical treatments that saved her life.
This women’s scar was the result of a bullet fired at her by her ex-boyfriend. Carvalho cover it with cherry blossoms, which symbolize femininity and new life.
The scars on this woman’s arm came after her boyfriend stabbed her during a drunken rage. While she was in the hospital being treated, he died from alcohol and drug intoxication.
This woman’s long scar was the result of refusing to kiss a man in a night club. When she turned him down, the man stabbed her in the stomach with a switchblade. Once again, Carvalho transformed this woman’s scar so that her body isn’t defined by violence.
Carvalho’s year-long project may be over, but she’s still working tirelessly to help victims of domestic violence.
Please share this article if you were also blown away by these life-changing tattoos.
Published by Newsner, please like.