Reclaiming Scars As Works Of Art

Shannon Henry Kleiber (TTBOOK)

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Alissa Waters combined her interests in medicine and art to become a tattoo artist specializing in covering — and often beautifying — mastectomy scars for breast cancer survivors. From her studio Shade Medical and Creative Tattoo in Madison, Wisconsin, she creates 3D areola nipple tattoos, as well as custom artwork like flowers and vines.

Working with Waters to create a tattoo is often a last step on a long and challenging road for many women through breast cancer surgery and reconstruction. But this is one part the patient chooses, and helps make happen. Waters says her favorite moment is when she watches each of her patients react to their new tattoo as they see it for the first time in a floor length mirror in her studio.

"To the Best of Our Knowledge" producer Shannon Henry Kleiber talked with Waters as she demonstrated how she mixes colors and designs a tattoo.

"When you look down at your skin, you will notice that it's not just one solid color. It's a bunch of different little flecks of color that kind of make your skin look like that, certain tones. If I were to just use one solid color, it would look really odd and it would look too perfect." Shannon Henry Kleiber (TTBOOK)

"I usually start with just a couple of dots to get the person used to what they're going to feel for the next little bit. I've heard it feels like a cat scratch or like little bee stings, but I think that there's really honestly nothing that actually feels like it. So once you feel what a tattoo feels like, you can say it feels like a tattoo." Shannon Henry Kleiber (TTBOOK)

"I'm not always trying to cover scars. I think sometimes working with them is the better way to go honestly, or going through them with artwork instead of just trying to fully disguise the fact that they're there. It's like using pointillism to create something super realistic looking. It just works really well with skin because that's your skin is essentially pointillism with all these different little colors mixed together." Shannon Henry Kleiber (TTBOOK)

"I get a sense of relief from most people because they've been looking at themselves in the mirror for sometimes years without seeing a part of their body. That's just this small piece of skin, but actually it has a really big impact on what your body looks like and how you feel. I usually stand off to the side so I can see their face because I've been looking at what I did the whole time and I'm generally pretty confident in my ability. But I like to look at their reaction because they’re going to see it when they get out of the shower every day." Shannon Henry Kleiber (TTBOOK)

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Reclaiming Scars As Works Of Art

Alissa Waters