This essay explores the tattoos and scars that convey narratives on experiencing and living with chronic, rare, and complex illnesses. We view such marks as public expressions, when individuals bear witness to lives traversed by disability and frailty, whether as their own personal experience or in the role of caregivers. The body as witness and performative support is explored here in its aesthetic and political dimensions, in the expression of symbolic contents that gain visibility in the affirmation of neglected identities and agendas by persons who claim the recognition and valorization of their lives.
Keywords:
Tattooing; Personal Narrative; Mother-Child Relations; Chronic Disease; Disabled Persons