A Campbell River woman hopes to land the cover of Inked Magazine.
25-year-old Mercedes Vandenberg is competing to walk away with the $25,000 grand prize.
“It’s a way to show yourself and tell your story with your tattoos,” Vandenberg says. “Lots of women have tattoos that express themselves or have a history behind them. I have a history and decided, why not? Let’s try this competition.”
The part-time NIC student got her first tattoo when she was 16-years-old and now, nearly 10 years later, she has “14 plus tattoos.”
The inspiration behind her first one came from a personal struggle.
“I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when I was eight and I ended up having a relapse when I was 13,” Vandenberg says.
“So, I had envisioned this tattoo. My first tattoo that I got. It was a metamorphosis of a butterfly. It went from a caterpillar to a butterfly in five stages to represent the five years that I was sick in total and going through chemo. I put some tiger stripes to represent the strength and the butterfly at the top has its wings widespread. She was free.”
She says entering into a competition such as this one is something she wouldn’t normally do, but wanted to “give it a whirl” anyways.
“I didn’t expect to make it as far as I have. I’m currently sitting in second place and qualified to the top five. The next round is the quarter-finals, so that’s pretty exciting.”
Mar. 19th is the final day you can vote for Vandenberg to advance to the top spot in her group.
“That’s when the quarter-finalists will be announced, so I basically have to get into first place somehow. The girl in front of me right now has been rock solid in her spot.”
While the competition is “intense,” she’s wishing all of her fellow contestants the best of luck.
“I know there’s quite a few women in town that are doing it that have some pretty cool stories and good tattoos. It’s going to be quite the competition, I’m up for it.”
To vote for or to learn more about Vandenberg, visit Inked Magazine’s website.
