Amelia approached Jai for the Rites of Passage Sydney Tattoo Festival looking for a tattoo to cover a surgery scar and a previous unsuccessful tattoo that affected her personal confidence. She had very specific areas the tattoo needed to cover but was unsure about the exact design or style.
Amelia was an unusual client in that she offered Jai complete artistic freedom. Given that tattoos are permanent pieces of personal symbolism, Jai saw this as a sacred responsibility. To honour the request and trust, Jai started by delving deeply into the themes in Amelia’s life that they shared as mothers and creative practitioners.
From their conversations, Jai developed several sketches and design ideas she thought Amelia might resonate with.
Due to its size and complexity, Amelia’s tattoo was free-handed onto her at the festival. Working from reference photos, Jai used skin markers to create a beautiful design, which then took nearly 19 hours of tattooing to bring to life.
After finishing the tattoo at 10pm on the festival’s second day, Jai was honoured to learn she had won Best Freehand Tattoo at the Sydney Rites of Passage Festival that weekend. More importantly, Amelia had a bespoke tattoo that covered her scar and reworked her older tattoo into a stunning symbol of personal freedom.
