I meet Phyu, a tattoo artist,
in her studio in the suburbs of Yangon.
Phyu is a beautiful 26 year old woman who speaks gently and understands English. I ask her how she came to this job. She tells me that she is graduate and she learn tattoo after his study.His specialty: tattoos in shades of gray. On her Facebook account she shows her work, her press-book somehow, the themes are varied and sometimes very colorful. She has a talent for this job. Her clientele is diverse and comes to her through her Facebook account and word of mouth.
She makes a good living. I ask her who made her tattoos on her arm and legs, she replies that they were made in Norway during a stay. She does not know if she will always work in this field. It evokes marriage and children who will surely mark an interruption.
On 6 March, I see Phyu again in his studio. I arrive a little ahead and the gate in front of the door of his apartment is closed. I had never seen it before but here we sometimes secure the doors of the apartments by padlocked gates. We exchange a few sentences before his client arrives in turn.
Aung Kyaw Kyaw is a relaxed young man of about 30 years and he already has tattoos on his arm and on the left side of his chest: The drawing of his father’s portrait. It was Phyu who realized it.
Today he decided to honor his mother and get her tattooed on the right side of her chest. Somehow in front of his father. He explains that for him tattoos are a way of expressing his feelings and putting forward his personality. The older generation like her grandmother was not used to these tattoos. So much so that his grandmother no longer wants to hug him with his tattoos. I ask him if it is painful and he confirms that it is, but that this pain is good and that somehow the tattoo must be deserved. He absolutely does not want to take medication to bear this pain, it has to exist.
Then start the tattoo. Aung Kyaw Kyaw is lying on a bench like those used for bodybuilding. All instruments and inks are prepared on a small table and everything looks clean and sterilized. Black inks are prepared in tiny bottles. A friend of the tattoo came to take some pictures of the event. Everything is done with concentration and total silence. Gradually the contours of the client’s mother take shape on her skin.
It is almost moving to witness the irreversible act that is happening for all existence on what we all have most personal and most precious: the skin.
This unique and irreplaceable skin that dresses us all our existence.
Around 2 pm, the first stage of the tattoo ends and we leave each other. Phyu suggests to me to transmit later the photo of the tattoo that will be finished at a next meeting.
Phyu tattoo artist.
Click on a picture to access the gallery.
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