Tattoos were once the hallmark of outcasts. Nowadays, they are commonplace. They can be found among teachers, bank employees or even top managers.
“I got my first tattoo when I was 16 years old,” says Yulia Brit, the associate director of Naftogas TEK, a hydrocarbon exploration and drilling firm. “It was a Japanese hieroglyph, seen on a poster. At that time, I didn’t think about quality. It was made with a tape recorder, guitar string and pen casing. This tattoo is still on my ankle, but it’s covered with a lotus flower.”
Brit already has six tattoos – on her back, arm, shoulder, waist and leg – and is planning more. At work, no one has problems with her body art – partly because of the dress code. The blouse, skirt and jacket hide everything.
More importantly, her boss is open-minded about her passion. “He is even proud of me, and I never have to hide my tattoos at a corporate party or other unofficial event,” Brit explains. “My biggest tattoo covers the old ones and scars from surgery. It cost Hr 3,000 ($375) and 10 hours of work, but it was worth it,” Brit says, proudly showing off a big dragon encircling her waist. It won second place at Tattoo Collection 2012, an annual competition, in the Japan category.
Andrey “Riffmaster” Antonenko, who bears the festival’s grand prize-winning tattoo, warns the practice can become addictive. “I was 20 years old, and it was a spider-shaped skull on my shoulder. Since that time I started getting tattoos. After you get the first one you can’t stop,” the musician explains. “Now I have two big tattoos covering both sides of my body … they are like a part of my personality.”
Removal of mistakes is always an option, although it can cost more than the tattoo itself. Removing a tattoo the size of a cigarette pack will cost Hr 800 per session. Hands and wrists are the most common areas for such removal.
Therefore, tattoo specialists recommend putting time and thought into the design. “It’s more interesting to not only ink the tattoo, but also design it,” says Roman Lysenko from Planeta Tattoo studio. “To work with a client and perfectly fit the tattoo to the body – that’s the main task of a tattoo master.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Elena Pashkovskaya can be reached at [email protected]. Photos by Anastasia Vlasova.
