Taatoa taps the bark with a traditional Samoan mallet, working from the centre ... and takes on the pattern of the woodblock beneath. This day-long process is completed after Makulata hand-paints ...

in 2017 Sake obtained the Samoan tatau for women - known as "malu" - on her legs before adding the traditional tattoos to her hands in 2022. Tattoos have long served more than a skin-deep purpose ...