Tattoo artists coated head to toe in ink finds uncommon interest to assist him battle demons
Remon Smit, 26, has tattoos covering him from head to toe and has battled addiction but is now sober and using an unlikely tool to keep him going
Remon Smit has ink covering his whole body(Image: Cover Images)
A tattoo artist battling a drug and alcohol addiction has found solace in an unlikely place — ballet class.
Remon Smit, 26, is nearly completely covered in ink from head to foot. But lately he’s been tattooing clients instead of himself so that he can afford to pay for the dance classes that keep him sane.
The New Yorker attends two classes a week and practises at home every day, saying the strict routine gives him something positive to focus on while staying sober. He stopped drinking and taking drugs on April 21 and has been clean for more than four months.
“I do tattoos to afford ballet classes, but ballet helps keep me sober,” Remon explains.
He began dancing ballet at age 12 while attending a dance school, where his choice made him stand out from the other male pupils.
He uses ballet to keep himself sober(Image: Cover Images)
“I was the only boy in my class who wanted to do ballet,” Remon says. “The rest of the boys were into hip-hop.”
Although he loved dancing, Remon began to crave a life without ballet’s strict routines and expectations. At 18, he left dance behind and pursued a career as a tattoo artist.
“I wanted more from life than only dancing,” Remon says. “I started tattooing, and that freedom made me into an addict. I left dancing behind to become a full-time tattoo artist, where I could do whatever I wanted.
“I didn’t want to eat lightly and healthily anymore. I wanted to do everything I had never been able to do. Unfortunately, that made me drink and use drugs.”
Remon says alcohol had been a problem from the first time he drank, but his addiction became particularly destructive in the last three years. Eventually, drugs also became part of his daily life. Meanwhile, his appearance changed dramatically as he covered more of his body in tattoos.
How Remon looked before the tattoos(Image: Cover Images)
Remon was around 20 when he received his first tattoo. About a week after he began tattooing professionally, he decided to have his logo permanently inked on his face. At the time, he was still working at a restaurant in Rotterdam and believed the bold move would force him to leave that job.
“I thought, ‘F**k it, let’s put my logo on my face,’” Remon says. “I sent a picture to my boss because I expected him to tell me that I didn’t need to come back to work.
“Instead, he said, ‘That looks cool, bro. I’ll see you on Monday. So I worked at the restaurant for another week with a tattoo on my face.”
Remon’s facial tattoos were not only about creating a distinctive appearance. They were also a way of forcing himself to commit to tattooing and succeed as an artist.
Remon’s wife Itza supports him on his journey(Image: Cover Images)
“The face tattoos were a way to push myself to make it,” Remon says. “It was a combination of loving the look and making a permanent decision to go for it.”
However, there was a frightening period when the gamble appeared to have failed.
“At one point, I thought I had messed up because I had no money, no clients, and my whole face was covered,” Remon says. “I almost got fired from the tattoo shop and was given one final chance.
“Because I had face tattoos, I couldn’t go back. That helped push me through a nerve-racking time.”
As his tattoo career grew, Remon’s problems with alcohol and drugs continued. He used them as an escape whenever life became difficult, but eventually realised that he could no longer drink or take drugs safely.
“The hardest part of sobriety is not having an escape from this sometimes brutal world,” Remon says. “I have lost the privilege of being able to let go once in a while. If I try to do that, I’ll be on a bender before I know it.”
Needing something to rebuild his discipline and fill the hours when he felt bored or vulnerable, Remon returned to ballet. He was nervous before his first class because he did not know how the other dancers would react to his heavily tattooed appearance.
He got tattoos across his face(Image: Cover Images)
“I hoped they would be okay with me, but they were lovely,” Remon says.
Remon now shares his striking appearance, ballet training, and recovery journey on TikTok, where his account has attracted 1.6 million likes. Ballet gives Remon daily exercises, regular classes, and a reason to remain focused during the most difficult moments of his recovery.
He has even stopped adding to his tattoo collection because fresh tattoos need time to heal, while dancing requires him to train and sweat.
“I chose my sobriety over my appearance,” Remon says. “I stopped getting tattoos because ballet is what keeps me sober. It requires me to show up and sweat every day, and you can’t sweat with a healing tattoo.
“Right now, I’m choosing my recovery over how I look. My skin can wait.”
Supporting Remon is his wife, Itza Dianne Juarbe Smit, whom he married on 21 October 2024. Itza often attends classes with him, packs his dance bag, arranges their Uber, and films videos for his social media accounts.
“She does everything so I can focus,” Remon says.
For now, he is taking his recovery one day and one ballet class at a time.
“I trust God with my future,” Remon says. “As long as I stay focused and remain on the right path, the right things will happen.”
