It’s a slow process and there’s a long waiting list.
Ryan Sean Kelly had fallen out of love with the art of tattooing until he started up a business called Scars Behind Beauty.
He opened the new venture because he wanted to give back some freedom to those who suffer or have suffered from mental health issues.
JOE got in touch with Kelly and he took a few minutes out of his very hectic work schedule to tell us about the brilliance that is #scarsbehindbeauty.
Kelly was inspired to ink from an early age.
“I got my first tattoo at 16 and fell in love with it and with the whole idea of being an artist. I started tattooing soon after beginning my apprenticeship at 17,” he said.
However, Kelly began suffering from issues of his own and was forced to give up the job he loves so much but it was because of this that he got the idea for Scars Behind Beauty.
“I started the project about six months ago. I had quit tattooing for about a year prior to that due to my own mental health.
“Then, a friend of mine began to be really held back by the self-harm scars that he had. I suggested covering them with tattoos and he was all for it, so I dusted off my tattoo machines.”
Having the machine in his hand once again propelled Kelly back into a life of tattooing but only if he could continue on with the new setup that he started.
“When I covered up his scars, it gave him a new lease of life. My tattoo studio mentor died by suicide soon after so I decided I wanted to do something to highlight these mental health issues that I was surrounded by.
“So, I pushed myself back into tattooing and set up Scars Behind Beauty, where I tattoo one person per week, to cover their self-harm scars, completely free of charge.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BW2gdqtjd3f/
Demand for these tattoos has been bigger than Kelly ever expected and getting in touch with him is actually really easy.
“I have tattooed one a week for the last six months and have around 300 on a waiting list.
“Usually, they contact me by email ([email protected]) and here they share their stories of how they came to self-harm, they also forward me images of their scars and images of what they would like to cover them with.
“I ultimately try and meet their [tattoo] wants, but it’s important it’s a good tattoo at the end of the day, so I stay within my preferred styles of tattooing.”
However, sometimes Kelly’s work is not solely down to his tattooing and often he finds himself hearing the stories of the person he is working on.
“It’s difficult to listen to the stories sometimes as they can obviously be quite dark. But hopefully, it gives the person some relief in sharing it with me.”
Kelly is an artist at The Ink Factory on Wellington Quay in Dublin 2 and you can see some of his work on his Instagram page.
If you are struggling with your mental health, or if you’re worried about a loved one, these are a number of resources you can use.
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