Inspired by the sun’s nourishment
PRUDENCE Jopson’s arms — covered in fruit and vegetables on one side, with flower patterns on the other — are products of the sun.
‘‘Everything is produced by the sun and it kind of goes into me . . . I live and thrive in the sunlight.
‘‘All my tattoos are enhanced by it and grow by it. All my tattoos I make this decision where they need to symbolise that for me. I don’t talk about that very often, but it’s a huge part of it.’’
The fruit and vegetables are also the ingredients she used every day in a cafe business she once owned in Melbourne.
She went into the tattoo artist with photos of some of the fruit but also pictures she had drawn. The artist — who spent a cumulative 40 hours making her tattoos — then was able to create them in a way that made the produce look like it was moving, or falling down Ms Jopson’s arm.
‘‘When he was tattooing me he got an avocado, cut it open and had it sitting on his other desk,’’ she said.
Some of the first tattoos are on her right arm. They are flowers in a pattern from a scarf she was given when she was younger.
These tattoos were done by Aja McDonald, a Dunedin tattoo artist who comes from the
United States.
The gruelling hourslong experience of being tattooed creates a bond with the artist Ms Jopson finds poignant.
‘‘They become your therapist,’’ she said.
‘‘Quite a few of my tattoos have been after really big events for me. I go in and I get tattooed and I sit and I’m quiet . . . they’re quite grounding for me.’’
— Jacob McSweeny