Pakistani Woman Uses Japanese Art Style to Turn Stretch Marks Into Works of Art

Kintsugi, or “golden joinery”, is a method used by Japanese to repair broken ceramics using special lacquer that is often mixed with gold, silver or platinum. It gives off a new, unique look to the item once its finished, and it sometimes looks more beautiful than its original state.

The philosophy behind this Japanese art style is not to disguise or hide the rupture and repair, but rather celebrate the object’s history. This has made some owners of ceramics deliberately crack their wares and have it repaired because it makes it more aesthetically appealing to the eye than the original, once kintsugi is used.

Shakeel wants to inspire people, and encourages her followers to send in pictures of their stretch marks, so that she can turn them into works of art. She hopes this could also help them become more confident to embrace and be proud of their marks.

Shakeel has also inspired some men to contact her to give them the kintsugi effect for their marks or scar.

“I cannot explain how overwhelmed I was to see around 300 emails of stretchmarks, cellulite, scars and the best part is I am getting requests from men asking if I can put glitter on their marks too! Isn’t that just fabulous!” she wrote in her Instagram post.

Check out some of her other work below:

Aside from kintsugi stretch marks, Shakeel also has other intriguing works of art, although much more unusual than the ones above.

Follow Sara Shakeel’s Instagram to see more of her art.

H/T: Bored Panda