Meet Flavia Carvalho, the inspiring artist from Curitiba, Brazil who is transforming the results of domestic violence into stunning masterpieces. Her project, “A Pele da Flor” (The Skin of the Flowers) refers to the Portuguese saying, meaning “deeper than skin”. This saying voices the intense feelings we experience in the face of trying situations and signifies to us women that our skin is as a flower and deserves respect and protection. Two years ago, she launched this inspiring initiative to create empowering and striking tattoos over scars on survivors’ bodies. In an interview with the Huffington Post, Flavia explained that it all started when a woman came in wanting a tattoo to cover a large abdominal scar. She goes on to say that her client told her she “was at a nightclub, and when she turned down a man who approached her, he stabbed her with a switchblade.” That experience drove her to start this project where she provides free tattoos to those who have faced domestic violence or mastectomies (the surgical operation to remove a breast) and are left with scars. To the survivors, scars are a physical, constant reminder of their mistreatment.
Flavia talked about one incident that upset her “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.”
The beauty of this project is to elevate a woman’s self-confidence and pride, while showing spirit instead of fear. Flavia invites women from all over the world to come into the studio and share their heartbreaking and inspirational stories, revealing their scars. In many ways she acts as a counselor, whereas the tattoo chair serves as a healing place for the women to express their overwhelming experiences. Flavia continued to tell the Huffington Post, “It is wonderful to see how their relationship with their bodies changes after they get the tattoos… after being ashamed of their scarred bodies, they now post pictures in dresses, and they look happy, changed. It is transformative.”
The Daily Mail features a cherry blossom tattoo, a “symbol of femininity,” that now covers the gunshot wound from her ex-boyfriend.
Flavia masked the scars of this woman, after her ex-boyfriend stabbed her, with this gorgeous piece of work. She hopes to expand this project and work with other organizations and local police departments to address the issue of protecting women against violence. She promotes her incredible work and awareness on Facebook, showing the before and after, along with the women’s story.
To see more of Flavia’s work, visit her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/fla.tattoo/timeline.