Whai tikanga

Design Story

This shoulder piece tattoo prepared for Volker represents the things that are most important for him: family, radio and sea.

The turtle in the center symbolizes his family, with braids for union and an all-seeing eye in the middle of the shell for protection.
Around the turtle there are waves and below it there are a row of enata and flax leaves for ancestors and for the extended family.

Above the turtle there is a stylized antenna representing him being a radio-amateur, with circular rows of shark teeth and mountains having the antenna as their "source" to symbolize circular radio waves irradiating from it.

At the sides of the back flippers of the turtle there are a frigate and a canoe for travels and adventure.
At the bottom, the stones symbolize what he learnt and achieved and also represent the letters CQ in morse code.