“Transforming gloom into beauty.” According to Guinness World Records, Esperance Fuerzina, a 36-year-old Bridgeport, Connecticut, army veteran, is the most tattooed woman in the world. This is how she made history.
Esperance has had tattoos covering 99.98% of her body for the last ten years, and she has no intention of stopping anytime soon.
Since getting her first tattoo on her hip at the age of 21, Esperance has undergone numerous body alterations to alter her look. These include a “tongue split,” five facial implants, and numerous piercings throughout her body, including her ears and nipples.
Her tattoos cover not just her scalp and the bottoms of her feet but also her insides, including her tongue, gums, and eyes.
“I think it’s obvious I’m not trying to adhere to traditional beauty standards, and that can be both liberating and also something many people don’t understand and can be negative about,” Fuerzina said.
An army veteran wins the Guinness World Record for “Most Tattooed Woman,” having 99.98% of her body covered in tattoos and other modifications
The army vet has created an almost reptilian appearance with her tongue split into two distinct colored parts, scarlet fangs, and hard ridges across her forehead, arms, and temples.
Because of her commitment to body art, Esperance has been inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records with the most body alterations of any female (89), easily beating out former record-holder Maria José Cristerna by a significant 40 interventions.
For Esperance, tattoos are a means to record her life’s journey, rather than just a piece of ink.
“I’ve had a nomadic life and limited space in my army pack,” she said. “I felt I could carry these experiences with me wherever I go.”
She views each tattoo as a major turning point in her life, transforming difficult experiences into representations of her own development and evolution.
Esperance carries a continual reminder of her experiences with her tattoos, which are painful. The veteran explains that she intentionally seeks out the agony they cause, using it as an opportunity to grow spiritually and meditate.
The artist has undergone several gruesome medical procedures, including the excision of her nipples, 15 subdermal implants, and 18 genital piercings.
The veteran had already surpassed the previous record holder without realizing it before submitting her application, making it an easy win for her
The chance to break the world record almost happened by mistake for Esperance.
Her adventure began when she found a friend’s casual remark about the previous holder intriguing. Curious, the vet looked up the current record and found something amazing—she had already surpassed it by a significant margin.
Since she initially broke the record back in 2012, Maria José Cristerna, a Mexican, has remained the uncontested holder of the record.
Reflecting on her application process, Esperance admits, “I was initially a little apprehensive, but I wanted to try to showcase the strength of women, and what’s possible, by applying for the record myself.”
Esperance was born into a military family and moved around the South of the United States a lot as a child. She even lived in Japan for three years. She followed in her family’s footsteps and became a medical service officer in the Army, where she witnessed numerous horrific traumas.
“I’m now a retired Army veteran,” she explains. “The creative flow mostly came after the military, but perhaps the lack of it while in pushed me towards it!”
At the age of 21, she received her first tattoo in honor of a former lover’s family. A colorful phoenix took its place after heartbreak, kindling a passion for the pastime in the process.
“I usually allow the artists a lot of creative freedom once I have found one whose style I am comfortable with and inspired by,” she explained.
Far from being satisfied with her victory, the artist expressed her wish to continue perfecting her body, which she views as a “canvas” that’s yet to be perfected
Esperance doesn’t think her masterpiece is quite complete; therefore, her ten-year adventure will likely continue.
“In terms of my body being covered, it is still hard to imagine a set ending,” she explains. “For many years now, I’ve been moving towards more cohesiveness in my suit, and that is still an aim of mine.”
She continues, stating that she wants to go “bigger” with her next interventions, all in pursuit of making her entire body into a work of art that “flows” better and is more “cohesive.”
Unfortunately, not all of the attention she receives for her distinctive appearance is favorable. Even in the face of criticism, she doesn’t waver. She thinks kindness ultimately wins out and that those responses are more about the fears of others.
Reflecting on her achievement, Esperance shared her excitement and gratitude: “To be the most tattooed woman and to have the most body modifications feels a little crazy, but I am grateful and excited for the future, and of course I am not done!”
Netizens reacted with a mix of amazement and surprise, but most were put off by the stark differences between the before-and-after photos of the army vet
“She looks fantastic. I love the look. More attractive than before,” said one of her fans.
“Congrats on the victory! She is an inspiration to us all,” expressed another.
Many questioned Fuerzina’s health due to the amount of her body modification, raising concerns about her mental state as well as the possibility of ink particles entering her bloodstream.
“To be fortunate enough to be born with a healthy, perfectly formed and fully functioning body and not to be content and grateful but instead to actively destroy it,” wrote one baffled reader.
“I could only bear to look at a couple of pictures, but felt too nauseous to continue,” another stated.
“I can’t imagine, as a mother, giving birth to a flawless, beautiful baby girl, only for her to end up looking like that. I’d be heartbroken,” one expressed.
“This could be viewed as a form of self-harm, in which case the Guinness Book of Records should steer clear of it,” said one viewer.
