Wairuatanga

Design Story

This tattoo designed for Luca´s pec represents life that does not end with death.

The path of Kamehameha in the middle symbolizes a path full of challenges representing life, with several births along the way (pito, the navel, appearing three times).
In every life, in every challenge, we learn something until we finally reach freedom and knowledge (the manta).

At the base, coconut palm leaves shaping the edge symbolize earthly possessions left behind along this path.

The first inner circle is formed by ancestors, who left before us along this voyage that takes us watching the world from a higher perspective (the row of birds).
They enclose a turtle as a symbol of family, of the traveller and of foundations as well.

The waves of the manta are a symbol of change and shark teeth of adaptability, with a kava leaf as a reference to healing and spirituality.