Beyond the Surface

Photographed by Michelle Nguyen, Concept and Styling by Anabel Nam and Katherine Yang

Katrina Stebbins:

I got my first tattoo almost exactly two years ago—back in Okinawa, where I grew up—and I just got my fifth in Ann Arbor. The ones in between are from East Lansing, Dublin, and New York, most of which I’ve called home for at least a little while. I grew up overseas with the US military, where home is sort of a transient concept. I lived in Okinawa for ten years and still go back for some breaks, but almost all of my friends and their families have left, and my family will follow suit soon enough. I lived in East Lansing for two years before I transferred out of MSU. I was only in Dublin for less than a week, but I’ve never fallen in love with a place so quickly. I spent the summer in New York, which I hope I’ll be able to call home someday. A lot of the time, I think that home is just where I happen to be. I like the idea of carrying a tiny piece of those homes around with me everywhere I go.

Because I have so many, one or more of my tattoos are usually the first things that most people notice about me. It’s a reasonable first observation; as I’ve gotten each, they’ve progressively gotten bigger and as a whole more conspicuous and harder to miss. The placement of each of them--all of them on my arms--is intentional. My tattoos are meant to be seen; they’re inherently accessible to people who might look at me but also, and maybe most importantly, to me when I look at myself. As the only permanent parts of my body that I’ve had full control over, they’re a source of power for me. People talk about “the itch” to get more and more tattoos after their first, and I think that it has something to do with the fact that it feels good to curate what goes on your body, when, and how. In getting each of my tattoos, I’ve felt more and more like I’m designing the kind of skin that I want to live in. In that way, they’re inextricably linked to my self-love.

Joyce Li:

I've had a lot of difficulty with self-esteem and self-confidence growing up. Being uncomfortable in my own skin has taken a toll on my mental health, so my tattoos were a way to see my skin as beautiful. Although it may seem superficial, I've become a lot more confident in myself because of my tattoos. They make me feel beautiful and empowered. Even though there's a lot of stigmas around having tattoos, I don't regret any of them because of the meaning behind them and the strength they have given me.

Kat Downs:

The one on my shoulder is the first one I ever got. I always knew I wanted my first one to involve Arabic calligraphy because of my love for the Arabic language, especially Arabic poetry, so when I was living in Jordan in 2018, I went to a tattoo artist in Amman who helped me work with a calligrapher to figure out the design. It's the last three lines of a poem called "Travel Tickets" by the Palestinian poet Samih al-Qasim.

Sruti Ganesh:

Wrist Tat: this one was my first tattoo, written in my mom's handwriting. It's called a "pillayar suzhi" and for many Tamil people, is the first symbol written on any paper. Although I'm not the most religious person, I liked that its original purpose was for back when people would write on leaves; it has all the shapes in the Tamil alphabet, so this symbol would be the first thing they'd write to check if the leaf would tear. Since "pillayar," which is another name for the god Ganesh, is the first god Hindus are supposed to pray to, they just attached a religious purpose behind it - it works out since my last name is also Ganesh.

Back Tat: I liked the concept of a balloon tied to an anchor since it was meant to be a reminder to both stay grounded (anchor) but also keep my head up (balloon). I chose to put it on my shoulder blade area since when I get anxious I sometimes hold that area.

Bicep Tat: I loved astronomy a lot as a kid, and Orion was one of the constellations I can find easily. It's a constellation that only appears in Michigan in the winter, so nowadays it's a nice thing to see during an otherwise depressing season.