The beauty standards in South Korea are pretty rigid, and in fact, people who have tattoos are deemed as being in violation of social norms. In South Korea, you can get ostracized for having a tattoo as you’re considered a juvenile delinquent or gangster.
To take it a step further, South Korean society is very strict on value and therefore steers children towards careers such as medicine, law and other ‘stable’ professions. This is in spite of the entertainment and art industry beginning to take off in the global stage.
Yoo Jung Ha, popularly known as Alisha Gory has had a passion for art since she was a young girl. Unfortunately, she also knew early on that it would take a lot of courage to break out of the expected norm by her parents and her country and pursue her dream.
Despite the lack of support from her family, Alisha made the journey from South Korea to pursue her dream and landed in New York about a decade ago. She very quickly began combining her artistic skills and being a tattoo artist to ensure that she didn’t go hungry in a new country.
According to Alisha, creating art on live canvases is absolutely ethereal and worth every struggle and sleepless night she has endured in pursuit of her dream. She has put in a lot of work and time to perfect her craft and has become such an exceptional tattoo artist that she was featured in Inked Magazine.
To digest that for a moment, if you don’t know about Inked Magazine; it is perhaps the highest honor that a tattoo artist can receive. This is not only testament to Alisha’s skill but her work ethic as well. The feature has helped grow her business in a way that she hadn’t anticipated.
Alisha is redefining the Asian woman and breaking beauty expectations for women all around the world. The world needs more Alisha Gory’s to stand for what they believe in and be courageous enough to pursue their dreams no matter what or who stands in their way.
Inked Magazine has reignited a fire in Alisha to be able to express herself through her art and speak boldly about the things she holds dear. She notes that she wants to be able to set her own goals, boundaries and standards, without anyone having a say on what she can do with her body.
Similarly, she hopes to empower more women, especially Asian women, to break away from the set standards and embrace their unique individuality.
