A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

Arm Corset in Progress

This row of surface piercings, one half of a permanent arm corset, was done on Nic by Hugh Mattay of Tattoo Culture in Canberra, Australia.

Comments

26 responses to “Arm Corset in Progress”

  1. everythingandnothing Avatar

    love it, look forward to seeing the finished project.

  2. Mess Avatar

    i agree number 1! tis original, at least to me, as well

  3. shiza Avatar

    cool, i think that in a spirl around the arm would look cool too. can i ask a question though, what are the scars from?

  4. TeaOnTheHighSeas Avatar
    TeaOnTheHighSeas

    That will look awesome even if(when) they migrate out. They’ll leave some interesting scars.

  5. Bastian Avatar

    @ Shannon: please give IAM:Nic credit, too – as it is on her!

  6. rori Avatar

    i have one forearm microdermal and it gets caught on something at least once a day and i yell out a curse word. i can’t imagine how often this chick is gonna get that shit caught with that many of them. they do look pretty flat so hopefully they will stay that way. good luck!

  7. Anthony Avatar

    that arm looks like its had a rough life

  8. Piercing Pete Avatar

    What Bastian said, iam Nic is definately the wearer 🙂
    Go Nic 🙂 🙂

  9. Nic Avatar
    Nic

    That’s my arm. 🙂

    We’ve done the other side now. Just waiting for some healing and we’ll swap all the ends for rings and lace it together.

    They actually don’t get snagged often, I have had two or three swear moments but nothing that has actually done damage.

    The scars are from a decade or so of self harm, if this project leaves scars I won’t be concerned. The idea was to do the corset to cover the scars, turning something ugly into something beautiful.

    This whole project was also done as a bit of an experiment. I wanted to see the process of Punch & Taper Surface Piercing. We decided to use an arm so I could watch. Hugh came up with the corset idea. I had the first row of seven done in two sittings on one day and the second row done in one sitting about 4 weeks later.

    One way or another, I learned a lot from this. I’ve now seen the process up close 14 times, it was really fascinating.

  10. Ali Avatar
    Ali

    I think it looks pretty cool with just the one side done personally 😉 But I bet it’ll look awesome when it’s finished.

  11. Dimruthien Avatar

    #10: as someone with self harm scars too, i think this is a wonderful thing to incorporate into those scars. i really look forward to seeing the final product!

  12. Sassie_L Avatar

    Awesome work Nic and Hugh! They look fantastic 🙂

  13. Monica Avatar
    Monica

    Wow, those really do look fantastic! What an awesome idea.

  14. GucciGurl Avatar

    the amazing healing abilities of foamy strive modblog!

    awesome work guys!

    go the aussies!

  15. stormy Avatar

    this should be stunning when its finished

  16. Kelley Avatar
    Kelley

    This looks like it’d be fun to run your fingers across. 🙂

  17. Karnivor Avatar

    I currently have 9 surface in my left arm. Started doing them in november and added more and more 🙂

  18. Giles Wallwork Avatar

    Had one Microdermal in my arm once and got it snagged on loose cotton and it pulled right out.

    This looks quite effective.

  19. funkadelica Avatar
    funkadelica

    Beautiful. I LOVE it. 🙂

  20. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    Kind of like playing Quake,and getting shot for real with the Nail Gun!

    (Quake – old first-person shooter game for the PC)

  21. Raz Avatar
    Raz

    Looks fantastic, Lofty. Looking forward to seeing it when complete.

  22. Lenore Avatar

    Very nice. Definitely want to see the finished project.
    As an aside, take some notes kids. This is what surface piercings should look like, not red, angry and rejecting pieces of shit.

  23. shamelessattentionseekinghussy Avatar
    shamelessattentionseekinghussy

    Looking good, mein hero!!! 😀

  24. april Avatar
    april

    hahaha, love it!!!

  25. Carlos Avatar
    Carlos

    It is amazing! I want it too. Please whrite me, if is it for sale.

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