This publication explores body modification, specifically tattooing, as a form of personal expression and identity. It aims to move beyond surface-level perceptions of tattoos as purely decorative, instead presenting them as meaningful, intentional marks that reflect lived experience, memory, and individuality. By positioning the body as a canvas, the project considers how identity can be visually constructed and communicated through the skin.

The content is divided into three key sections: ‘The Body as a Canvas’, ‘The Process of Making’, and ‘Memory, Identity, Meaning’. Together, these sections create a progression from theoretical exploration to physical process and lived experience. A key focus of the publication is the process of tattooing itself. By highlighting elements such as time, endurance, and permanence, the work shifts attention away from the finished image and toward the act of making. This approach reinforces the idea that tattooing is not simply an outcome, but a considered and embodied practice. The inclusion of personal responses and interviews further supports this, introducing multiple perspectives and emphasising the diversity of meanings attached to body modification.

Visually, the publication combines photography, experimental image-making, and typography to reflect its themes. Techniques such as ASCII imagery and tactile binding methods extend the idea of mark-making beyond the body, creating connections between content and form. Through this, the book becomes not only a documentation of tattoos, but a designed object that reflects the same principles of construction, intention, and expression.