reciating art since the dawn of time; it tells a story about the time is was created, the person who created it and, in some cases, the person wearing it.
People from all cultures and all parts of the world have been getting tattoos for centuries; some were symbolic, others were marks of status, and others cosmetic. The ink in their skin can say volumes about the person wearing it; their values, their beliefs, and where they get their inspiration.

Today, people use tattoos as a form of self-expression, including several EvCC students, who showed off their ink.
Vanessa Elliot’s tattoo is a sort of living memorial, paying tribute to her grandmother, who passed away when Elliot was 5. Her grandmother was a holocaust survivor, freed from Auschwitz during the final liberation. Elliot explains, “It wasn’t until after she died that I learned her history”, and decided to pay tribute to her memory by getting a tiger lily (her grandmother’s favorite flower) on her arm.

Lucas McCracken also pays tribute to a grandparent—in this case, his grandfather—with a tattoo on his calf of an eagle and a zippo lighter. He explains, “I used to collect Zippos with him, and his spirit animal was the eagle, so it made sense to get it.”

The script on Summer Lee’s arms relate to her past—“It’s a commitment to change my life.”

A guardian angel stands on Mark Stebakov’s forearm, serving as a reminder of his faith and his belief that “there are battles that we may lose but we’ll still win the war. It’s sort of like an encouragement.”

Matthew Vaughan’s raven is representative of the spiritual interlude between Earth and the heavenly realm; in several mythologies, the raven serves as a messenger between the two worlds.
Josh Larsson’s tribal tattoos are aesthetically pleasing. “The designs flow together. It’s an easier way to make a sleeve”, he explains.

Geoff Lewis’ tattoo is his personal emblem in Halo. “Basically, if/when you see this pop up on your screen … I somehow managed to kill you before getting killed myself”. He plans to get more ink added later, and though he isn’t sure yet what he wants, he says, “I want to design all of them myself so that a bit of me is in them”.