“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”
- George Eliot
Of the many stories told to me as a child, the ones that I remember most vividly are the tales of the mistreated and oppressed who rise up to be fierce rebels pursuing heroic deeds. Such magic dwells in the knowledge that you can not only escape your tortured past, but that the pain you endured and the scars you carry make you a more powerful human being. To this day, this sentiment causes a desire in me to know others, to learn from their journey, and to give voice to their stories of empowerment and their brave spirits through portraiture.
Valkyrie Ink traces the compelling story of Eowyn, a resilient and rebellious young woman, who endured emotional and physical pain since childhood. Inextricably linked to the story of her difficult life, this series portrays her brave spirit and her marked skin, which both bear the scars of her past and the signs of her resistance. In an act of strength best understood as “putting on her own skin,” of arming herself, Eowyn adorned her body with a shield of tattoos. Yet, before the first emblem was inscribed on her skin in permanent ink, she developed the sense that empowerment laid in the rhythms of cuts and their scars which seemed to form an increasingly impenetrable shell. By cutting herself, she literally thickened her skin. Her metamorphosis continued when, at the age of 16, she got her first tattoo and connected to the power of ink to fortify her body and amplify her personality. The titillating lines, undulating images, and powerful words that cover her skin are marks of their bearer’s bravery, and evidence of her insubordination. The ink is who she is, desires to be, and who she has become.
Among the many metaphors that help us decipher life and relate to others, that of “having a thick skin” is one that most of us relate to. It touches an instinct to protect a vulnerable body. Eowyn’s tattoos, as her armor, transcend any connotation of self-harm into the realm of self-empowerment. Changing her body allowed her to take charge of her identity in a demonstration of control and fierceness.
In the treacherous neighborhoods she grew up in, they also served her as sign of toughness and saved her from potential harm. The tattoos were, and are, her armor. They remind Eowyn to stay courageous and tough.
The muse shared her perspective on her ink and attitude as follows:
“The way I see it is you have two choices. You can give up and stay where you are and die, or you can feel the punches of life, how the wind howls around you, the icy cold biting your face and body, and decide not to stay down. Being down for a bit might be needed, but the difference is to get back up again and not break.”
Valkyrie Ink embeds Eowyn in the inspiring character of a Viking warrior. Not only did Eowyn allow this trenchant portrayal of her personality, but the exaggeration of her character as a warrior, and the frank treatment of the ambiguous and occasionally disquieting physical manifestations of her trauma, were liberating for the heroine. In the process of the shoot - by assuming this role, by exaggerating this character - an unleaving happened. These images capture the very intimate moments of connecting to her own story, as Eowyn asserts her strength through confident poses and empowered gaze.
As our society demonstrates with disappointing consistency that nudity, sexuality, and the beauty of the female body are still misinterpreted as offerings to evoke male pleasure, the understanding that our identity and body are inseparable, and that it is necessary to reframe how we look the female body and sexual empowerment, is central to this series.
