Many of Dragonfly’s tattoos, including the ones on her face, were done using the “ta moko” hand tapping method. The skin is pierced with a small tool before inserting the ink.
Dragonfly, 39, had already tattooed the stars on her chin herself when she met a Maori tattoo artist named Inia. She asked him to tattoo her in the traditional ta moko way.
The process was, she says, “very painful” but one she endured because the Maori style was something she’d wanted for a long time.
Dragonfly, who is homeless, says she knows her tattoos have “closed doors” for her, but they are a part of her, she would rather lose her nose, she says, “than get rid of them.”
Her boyfriend Russell’s tattoos make political statements. He’s a squatters’ rights activist and has the squatters’ symbol – a circle with a zigzag arrow pointing diagonally rightwards – emblazoned on his right hand.
The three dots between his left thumb and index finger are the “mi vida loca” motif, meaning “my crazy life” in Spanish.
Russell’s first tattoo was a “poke ‘n’ stick” when he was 13.
Dragonfly says she’s familiar with the method, which involves using a sewing needle to make an incision in the skin which is then filled in with pen ink, none of her tattoos were done like that.
Dragonfly tattooed Russell a month ago. The letters “A, C, A, B” across his fingers stand for “all cops are bastards.” Dragonfly says she’ll eventually to redo its ink work because she’s not happy with it at the moment.
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