For many years I sought creative expression in every part of my life. Tattoo ink was just another way to decorate my body, not really different from all the other fashion-related things I've done with clothes and jewelry and makeup and hairstyles and dye and piercings and so forth.

I have known people who like to get tattoos because the experience of being tattooed does something for them in itself, but for me it was all about the art I wanted to wear. I didn't mind the pain, but it wasn't about that. There is some symbolic significance, which I mostly keep to myself, but mostly it's just that I like the way it looks.