Metamorphosis

“Olya is cool. There is a little sparkle next to her, from how light and joyful she is. But her ex-man is not cool at all, and left her a scar as a keepsake, ”this is how the blog of Rina Tsunami, a tattoo artist from Vladimir, begins. She collects the stories of women who come to her studio to hide traces of burns, cuts, gunshot wounds. Covering scars, Rina helps women forget about violence and start life anew. Meanwhile, in Moscow, Valeria Panteeva organizes the Tattoos Instead of Scars project with the Maverick studio. The masters of the tattoo studio, like Rina, cover the scars of victims of domestic violence. But some women don't want them to hide their scars. For Rachel from Newport (UK), the gunshot wound became part of her, her pride, the horror story she was able to live through. Rachel has written a book about violence, collects signatures for petitions to change English law, and creates help groups for those like her.