“My tattoos are a bronze jewellery.
A ‘stretched’ spiral with simple motifs and figures between the rings. I love the shape and movement of the spiral, graceful and highly symbolic at the same time.
My inspiration for the tattoo is taken from the Bronze Age. Both the spirals and the carvings. Spirals and circular patterns were also a favourite motif in the works of the bronze caster; belt plates, buckles, weapons and jewellery in general. My motives are inspired by the only “living” stories of our time, our rock carvings in the Nordic countries. And they all are motives I can relate to. The tattoo became my story, my roots, told “through” our ancestral art and works and performed in an equally old profession and craft; tattooist.
The tattoo has been done by hand, which means without a machine. A technique known to have been used more than 5000 years ago. Each arm has taken approx. 9 hours and are tattooed in Tahiti and Canada respectively.
I love to travel, the sea, to ski, I believe in the sun and am a mother of 3 children. So, the ships, the skier, the sun and the pregnant woman are for me the strongest symbols, set between the other motifs and a very stylized pattern of whales. Whales are seen all the way from the Pacific to the cold Arctic, so it made good sense as travellers to add.
My idea about the bracelets started in 1994. I was on a life journey and facing many directions. I am glad I only later found the inspiration and the tattoo artist, Colin Dale, Skin & Bone in Copenhagen. The first dot was done in Tahiti in November 2007 when I was four months pregnant. The last dot was put in Canada in 2010 on a sunny morning while I was breastfeeding our son Loki.”
Nanna
Tattoo artist: Colin Dale
Photo: Annette Kjær