Tattoos are forever: to celebrate a milestone, to mourn a loss, as a declaration of undying love and sometimes a reminder of some poor judgment after a late night drinking or on vacation. Sacred Transformations is the story of Eric Dean Spruth as he helps people to transform marks that no longer represent who they are into new works of art.
Tattoos are forever: to celebrate a milestone, to mourn a loss, as a declaration of undying love and sometimes as a reminder of some poor judgment after a late night drinking or on vacation. They can publicly identify us: gang member, sailor, or prostitute. Other permanent marks don’t involve ink at all- burn victims, for example, are visually altered in ways that are completely out of their control.
People change and lives evolve and being marked “forever” can become a burden. Sacred Transformations is the story of Eric Dean Spruth as he helps people to transform marks that no longer represent who they are into new works of art. Every Tuesday night in Chicago, he leaves his full-time job to drive down to South Side Tattoos to get to work. His clients go through a rigorous application process to have their bodies, and subsequently their lives, transformed. This film gives a glimpse into one of those stories.