Flavia Carvalho is a tattoo artist from Curitiba, Brazil. Flavia recently started the The Skin of the Flower project, where she gives free tattoos to victims of domestic violence. The idea behind the project is that the victims of abuse should not be defined by the violence perpetrated against them. So, Flavia uses her talents to hide their scars with beautiful tattoos. She wants to take these symbols of abuse and turn them into something empowering.
Flavia said:
“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!”
“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.”
Not only are her tattoos beautiful, the fact that Flavia does them free of charge shows what a decent person she is. Bravo!
