Bird of Paradise

The myth of the bird of paradise stems from an old Sufi fable about the Huma bird.  It is said that the bird is always in flight, never coming to rest, and is often believed to not even possess legs.  Tales of the Huma bird can be traced throughout various cultures, and in all cases the bird is seen as a good omen, bringing wealth, prosperity, and good health.  Stories go on to describe the bird as having both male and female attributes, while others link it directly to the myth of the phoenix.  The meaning of course can shift depending on the culture, yet themes of eternal life and renewal tend to be the strongest.

As for the real birds of paradise, these beautiful animals are still alive in the world, although they are considered a threatened species due to hunting and deforestation.

Given the beauty of the birds, and the link to a myth about rebirth and transformation, it should be no wonder that this scarification piece by John Joyce looks fantastic.

bird of paradise

The reasons the person chose to get this piece are their own, yet something can be said to the process of the cutting and the scar that will follow.  In essence the person is becoming reborn with a new sense of being.  The skin that was removed is gone forever, yet something new and beautiful will take its place.  Like the phoenix, the person has undergone a rebirth, coming out on the other side a transformed person.

John himself is no stranger to creating brilliant pieces of art, as you can easily see in his own gallery on BME.

True Relaxation


It’s not uncommon to see works of fine art adapted into tattoos—sometimes with varying degrees of success. This, however, is one of the first attempts we’ve seen at a scarification adaptation—based on a Klimt piece—and, honestly, we’re thrilled with what Christiane (at Pinpoint Piercing in Oslo, Norway) has done here. Excellent choice of a painting to adapt to the medium and wonderfully executed—lovely, lovely work.

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Dabbled In Blood


Hey, anyone in the mood for a doubleDecker? We first published fresh photos of Heather‘s hand back in those heady days of summer, but now, several months into the healing process, here’s a clearer idea of what the result is likely going to be. Clean, subtle—in our estimation, pretty much ideal for a hand scarification piece. Lovely stuff.

(Cutting by Brian Decker at Pure Body Arts in Brooklyn, New York.)

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Coming To Austin, Texas: Brian Decker!


If there are two things we enjoy above almost all else, they are cephalopod-related body modifications and warm corned beef sandwiches. If we were to add a third item, though, Brian Decker would probably make the list, seeing as he never fails to provide us with awe-inspiring tentacled monsters (though this one was mostly designed by the lovely Candace. In exchange for his contributions to the canon, we’ll pass on the word that Mr. Decker will be in Austin, Texas, at the end of this month, starting around October 20, and he is taking appointments! Visit him on IAM or at Pure Body Arts to set something up. Just do it already.

West and East


Alright, this shit just isn’t even fair anymore. Earlier this year, we posted an earlier iteration of this beautiful scar by handsome hair-farmer John Joyce on Sam, and we hoped that we’d be kept abreast of how well it healed. Considering the way Sam’s body treats scars, we were optimistic that it would end up just lovely, but my God—this is the eight-month status report. Part of me wants to know the details of the deal they’ve both obviously made with the devil, but then I feel like that may take away some of the mystique of their incredible offerings. More after the jump.

Garnished the Heavens


As many of you know, we try our damnedest here on ModBlog to not just feature scarification pieces in all of their stunning freshness, but also, when possible, to show the multiform and often unpredictable ways in which such projects can heal. Up above, we’ve got part of a serpentine skin-removal piece by Rion out of Deep Roots in Seattle, Washington, and this doesn’t quite look like it was scratched in there with a kitten’s claw—that deep middle section in particular looks designed to produce a hearty scar. After the jump, we see this gentleman’s back two months into the healing process, and a hearty scar it is.

It’s a little uneven in parts, but again, this is still relatively early as far as healing is concerned, and hey, we think it’s worthy of documentation either way in the interest of keeping track of scar progression. Hopefully more updates will follow.

See more in Skin Removal Scarification (Scarification)

Wherever You Go


And so, continuing today’s impressive streak of highly pleasant young women—a rarity around these parts, we know—here we have Mindi, the pride of Brisbane, sporting, well…a lot of pretty excellent looking work, to be honest, and can count among the contributing artists the eminently talented jOELTRON and Brendan, the latter of whom we’ve noted here a few times lately. This, then? A lovely collision of some of our recent favorites. We love it when a plan comes together.

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Lie in the Light


Oh, what’s this? Another excellent scarification piece by noted intergalactic traveler Anders at Flesh Impressions in Broadbeach, Australia (more), you say? Yes, that seems to be quite in character for him, indeed. Here we see his work on familiar muse James, explained by the artist himself as such:

It’s an old handmade key design from late 1800s-early 1900s—a single line cut with cross hatching to give the key a handcrafted old look. When healed, it will be a subtle and discreet scar on the hand.

If the result of their last collaboration is any indication of how nicely James heals this sort of work, we can’t wait to see this new piece a little way down the line.

Split Ya Guts


As we have made mention of many times in the past, ModBlog exists, if for no other reason, than to bring you, the handsome and erudite readers, the very finest in cephalopod-related body modification. Well, here we have a jaunty little octopus, cut into place by Brian Decker at Pure Body Arts in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Mr. Decker is currently gallavanting around Berkeley, California, doing whatever it is people do there (smoke medical marijuana and hate America), so feel free to get in touch with him if you are in the market for his particular brand of pain-infliction.

Enjoy your weekend and your Raekwon, folks!

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You Got Me For Now


Hoo boy, this is just some excellent work right here, eh folks? The very talented Brendan Russell checks in all the way from 2012 Tattoo and Piercing in Newcastle, Australia, with this stunning Día de los Muertos-inspired scarification piece, featuring some of the finest cross-hatch and skin removal we’ve seen in quite some time. As always, it’ll be very interesting to see how this bad boy heals up, but for the time being? This is getting the job done for us.

See more in Skin Removal Scarification (Scarification)