Perhaps the most beautiful wound is the one you never erase. Tattoo artist Hanbi is one of the early pioneers of the genre known as bruise tattoo, an artist the tattoo scene watches closely at home and abroad. Her signature is the color of a bruise: purple, green, yellow, blue, spreading into the skin as though bleeding outward. A bruise from a collision is not something you choose, but a bruise Hanbi inks is different. This is comfort by way of engraving the wound instead of erasing it.
She once left this sentence on social media: Should a wound disappear, or is it all right to leave it? I think it is all right to leave it. Only, what shape I keep that wound in should be my own choice. What needs to be erased may not be the wound, but the way others look at it. What is it you want to erase from your own body? What shape do you want to keep your wounds in?
She once left this sentence on social media: Should a wound disappear, or is it all right to leave it? I think it is all right to leave it. Only, what shape I keep that wound in should be my own choice. What needs to be erased may not be the wound, but the way others look at it. What is it you want to erase from your own body? What shape do you want to keep your wounds in?
FAQ
What is bruise tattoo?
Bruise tattoo is a tattoo genre inspired by bruise coloring. Colors like purple, green, yellow, and blue spread across skin like bruises, with tattoo artist Hanbi known as one of Korea's early pioneers. It embodies comfort through engraving wounds instead of erasing them.
What work does tattoo artist Hanbi do?
Tattoo artist Hanbi is an early pioneer of bruise tattoos, engraving bruise colors onto skin. She's gaining attention in domestic and international tattoo scenes for conveying the message that wounds can be kept in shapes you choose.
What is Hanbi's tattoo philosophy?
Hanbi views wounds not as something to disappear but as something that can remain. She says the choice of what shape to keep that wound in should be yours. She conveys the message that what needs erasing might be others' gazes, not wounds.
