Vogue Philippines released its April issue on Friday, and its latest cover model is a 106-year-old woman from Kalinga, Apo Wang-Od, also known as Maria Ogai.
Wang-Od, from the small mountain village of Buscalan in the Philippines, is considered the country’s oldest mambabatok (traditional tattoo artist). He became famous for mastering the 1,000-year-old Batok tattoo technique, which uses a conventional tapping method involving black carbon and sharp sticks. The magazine reported that he learned the traditional way from his father when he was 16.
“Apo Maria ‘Wang-Od’ Ogay epitomizes the strength and beauty of the Filipino spirit,” Vogue Philippines tweeted. & beauty on the skin.”
Her art has sparked a tattoo wave in the Philippines, where people from all over the world visit to get one of her iconic designs, according to Vogue.
He told Vogue that wang-Od passed his knowledge on to his granddaughters, Elyang Wigan and Grace Palikas, who trained him in the Art of tattooing for several years. The magazine reports that his work has inspired a new generation of Batok artists in the Philippines and the United States.
“When visitors come from afar,” Wang-Od Vogue says in Butbut, “I will give them Tatak Buscalan, Tatak Kalinga as far as my eyes can see.”
Whang-Od is the face of the beauty edition of Vogue Philippines, which according to the magazine, “also accentuates the female gaze.”
