A'o

Design Story

This half sleeve tattoo was prepared for Yannik and it represents his voyage to acquiring knowledge.

Along the voyage represented by the row of birds there are symbols in the past that relate to a difficult, challenging path (thorns, path of Kamehameha) faced with tenacity, strength, and a fighting spirit (the puhoro and hammerhead shark motifs, shark teeth, spearheads, and centipedes).

The path to knowledge brings the warrior in the center from learning (the stepping stones at the base) to success and to reaching his goal (the star above the fan surrounded by a sun) to bring protection and prosperity to the community (the rows of enata and the net in the middle).

Flax leaves in the past and future symbolize the ever present importance of family, and the two tiki above the enata on the sides are two ancestors bringing protection.

Here´s a sneak peek at the digitalization process: