Kyler: Nina Simone, You Know How I Feel

Kyler, 19

This is the story of self-love after a break up behind Kyler’s Nina Simone tattoo.

About a year ago during the summer, Kyler drove to Salisbury to get tattooed by Greg at Crucial Tattoos, an artist her sister recommended to her.

“He’s Black and he does a lot of different skin types, but he was very informed what kind of ink to use and the different colors. He chose my colors which are dark pink, purple, blue, and he highlighted the buds in the flowers with yellow. He recommended the watercolor style on my flowers.”

The tattoo came to be after Kyler experienced a break up that pulled the carpet out from under her. The tattoo is a source of strength through her idol, Nina Simone.

“So the tattoo is of Nina Simone, which is one of my biggest influences. Her mindset and the way she owned her depression by being herself was really inspirational to me because at the time I was going through a bad break up and I was going through a depression because that relationship was important to me. She just taught me individuality and how to be yourself. You just can’t be nobody else.“

The tattoo depicts Nina with colorful flowers instead of hair, an image that Kyler was drawn to as an extension of its meaning. “The illustration I did chose of her that an artist did was with her chin up and that’s basically why I wanted it on my body so when I look at her I make sure my chin is up.”

“It’s a reminder to just hold yourself up.“