Have you ever wondered why people willingly let their skin to be pierced with sharp needles and ink being pushed into their skin?

Wikipedia describes a tattoo like this:
“A tattoo is a form of body modification where a design is made by inserting ink, dyes, and pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos fall into three broad categories: purely decorative (with no specific meaning); symbolic (with a specific meaning pertinent to the wearer); pictorial (a depiction of a specific person or item). ”

There is a long history of different reasons why people got their tattoos willingly or unwillingly, but nowadays many stigmas of the tattoo culture had gone and it moved into the realm of being a fashion accessory for both men and women.

A few years back I got an idea of an image. As I was getting my first (at the moment the only) tattoo I noticed there was something interesting in the whole bond of trust between the tattoo artist and me, so it definitely got me thinking and some kind of image concept formed in my head. I wanted to show visually the bond between a tattoo artist and the person getting the tattoo as it is a totally different thing than just getting a haircut. The idea was there but it just needed the right time and format to come out.

The right time came when I heard that the best tattoo studio in my hometown Tino’s Tattoo was celebrating its 20 years in business. I thought this would be the perfect time to dig my idea and finally make this image. The concept was to show the legacy of a tattoo studio, but also the bond between these people.

So from these elements, the Art piece called “Bonded by ink” was born. Over 20 people volunteered to be part of this image along with the talented Tattoo artists from Tino’s Tattoo. Everyone in the image has gotten their tattoos in the Tino’s place so this is definitely an Inked Legacy.

Thank you, Laura Puntila Artist and Jonna Kaasalainen for assisting with the photoshoot!