"First — a Few Dots": The Path from a Mining City to One's Own Path in Art

Every professional path has its own starting point. And it does not always look like a ready-made plan for the future.

Dmytro Yavtushenko was born in 1984 in Pavlohrad — a city whose life for many years was connected with mines. His parents worked at the mine for over two decades. His father had the title of Honored Miner of Ukraine and state awards for his work.

It was an ordinary family where they knew well what work, responsibility and the price of earned money meant.

A childhood where there was always room for drawing

Drawing appeared in Dmytro's life long before the profession.

Already in kindergarten, teachers paid attention to his drawings. At school, creative disciplines remained among those that came easiest to him.

At the same time, there was no clear plan to become a tattoo artist then.

After school, life followed the usual path for a young man from an industrial city: he needed to work.

Many different jobs and one thing that stayed close

During this period, there were many different professions and occupations. Some were physically hard, some were related to repair, trade, service and sales.

It was ordinary work experience without special privileges. But even then, drawing did not go anywhere.

In his free time, Dmytro continued to draw. And at the age of 13, he tried to make a tattoo for the first time.

First — for friends.

Then friends of friends, acquaintances, new people began to come. Gradually, what started as a hobby began to take up more and more space in life.

At that time, the Ukrainian tattoo industry was just forming. There were no today's number of studios, masters, equipment, training programs and information. Many things had to be found and mastered on their own.

This is how his own approach to work gradually formed.

Pavlohrad — Dnipro — working with people from different countries

Over time, there was more work, and the circle of clients became wider.

The next important stage was Dnipro. Here a new level of work with the studio, clients and large projects began to form.

Among the clients appeared athletes, footballers, musicians, business people, public figures and people who simply wanted to get a tattoo from this particular master.

Not everyone wanted publicity. And that always remained their right.

Some people came by recommendations. Someone returned for the next work. Someone recommended to friends. Gradually, the geography of clients went far beyond Ukraine.

In different years, work led to European countries where Dmytro worked in the guest artist format and got acquainted with other approaches to the tattoo industry.

It was good experience, but the final decision remained simple — to continue working in Ukraine.

Work that gradually became part of life

Over the years, much has changed: equipment, technique, client approaches, and the very attitude towards tattooing.

The market itself has also changed.

Tattooing ceased to be something done only by certain subcultures. It became part of modern culture, art and personal history of a person.

Along with this, the responsibility of the master also grew.

Today it is not enough to simply be able to draw well. Knowledge is needed, understanding of safety, hygiene, working with skin, communication with the client and responsibility for the result.

It was many years of practice that made it possible to see this change not from the outside, but directly within the profession.

Politics and government work

At a certain moment in life, another direction appeared that was not directly connected with tattooing.

By 2022, over the years of work, a wide circle of acquaintances had formed among people from various spheres. Among them were representatives of business, sports, culture and the public sector.

Later, Dmytro completed training in the field of assistant to a People's Deputy of Ukraine.

After that, there were offers of cooperation with various political teams.

But he did not continue this path.

The reason was quite simple: the proposed format of work did not coincide with his own vision of what he wanted to do.

At that point, the political stage effectively paused.

2022

After the start of the full-scale invasion, many familiar things changed.

Together with friends and acquaintances, Dmytro began volunteering. Cars, humanitarian cargo, necessary items for military and civilians — many issues were resolved through personal contacts in Ukraine and Europe.

Part of this work remained non-public.

Not everything done for other people requires photographs, posts or reports on social media.

From practice — to the idea of changing the very approach to the industry

In parallel with the main work, other experience accumulated.

It was clear that the tattoo industry in Ukraine is growing quickly, but along with it the number of questions about professional training of masters, safety and work standards is also growing.

The idea appeared to create a system that would allow not just to talk about professionalism, but to verify specific knowledge and compliance with certain standards.

This is how the DERMASAFE project appeared.

Specialists from various fields joined its creation — tattoo artists, IT specialists and lawyers. Work on the system took considerable time, because it was necessary to take into account not only the technical side, but also the realities of Ukrainian legislation and the industry itself.

Today DERMASAFE is a separate direction that develops in parallel with the main work of the studio.

What remains outside of work

There is another part of life that is not often spoken about in professional materials.

It is family.

Dmytro is a father of four children. And, as in any family, a significant part of life passes far from work, cameras and social media.

That is why today his life consists of more than one profession.

There is tattooing, art, business, work on new projects, volunteering, family and many things that simply do not make it into the public space.

And it all started with a few dots

Over the years, cities, countries, people, professions and the tattoo market itself have changed.

But the foundation remained the same — working with hands, attention to detail and the desire to make the next work better than the previous one.

Once it was the first few dots, made at the age of 13.

Then there were thousands of tattoos, clients from different countries, trips, his own studio, new projects and completely different scales of work.

Without a ready-made route.

Just step by step.