Daria Montague knows what it’s like to leave everything and everyone you love behind to try to find a better life.
At 18, Montague, who was born in Russia, fled for North America, ultimately coming to Canada and applying for refugee status.
Having started her life from scratch at such a young age and fighting for years to build a successful life on the other side of the world, Montague says it was important to her to lend a helping hand to young women who now find themselves in the same situation after Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February.
Montague, who owns Rebel Girl Ink tattoo studio on Cedar Pointe Drive in Barrie, recently welcomed two female Ukrainian tattoo artists to join her team, both of whom are set to get to work in the next few weeks, she says.
Julia Liverinova, 25, left her home in Odessa, Ukraine after an explosion hit a building beside her home. While she was able to find safe haven outside of her home country, Liverinova says (with the assistance of Montague who translated to English on her behalf) that leaving her family behind — including her younger brother who she is working to get a visa to join her in Canada — was definitely emotional. Both of her parents opted to stay in Ukraine to try to help.
Liverinova, who arrived in Canada on May 27, has been working as a tattoo artist for close to five years, she says, adding she got into the art through an ex-boyfriend.
Liverinova says she’s loved art since she was a child and studied art in Italy before becoming a tattoo artist. Tattooing is merely another creative outlet, she adds.
“(I) see tattooing as another instrument and seeing a person as a canvas. That’s just another field in art that (I) am enjoying,” Liverinova says. “It’s not just a picture on the skin, it vibrates and becomes part of you — it carries energy.”
Julia Kholiavchuk left her home in Cherkasy in central Ukraine on Feb. 26, three days after the Russian invasion, and spent two months living in Poland with her mother and grandparents before coming to Barrie to live with her aunt three weeks ago.
“I think it was (the) instinct of my mother that she just (took) me and said ‘come on’. It was hard because we couldn’t find how we (could) leave Ukraine. There was no transport, no buses, no cars. We used a train,” she says.
Kholiavchuk, who has been tattooing for three years, credited her grandfather for inspiring her to pursue an artistic life.
“In my childhood, I always looked (at) my grandfather’s drawing. I just wanted to make it like my granddad,” she says. “It’s a place where you can do what you want. I just tried it and Ioved it.”
Montague says she’d been searching for an artist “like her or better” to join her team for the last two years, but never found anyone that fit the bill.
Until now.
Both Kholiavchuk and Liverinova bring with them their own unique strengths, which will make them a great addition to the studio, Montague says.
“They both are very different and have very strong specialties that I can see from my perspective," Montague says. "We are all doing the same trade, but we are all so different, and this is exactly what a tattoo shop should be — very different styles, energies and diversity.
“A lot of artists came through these doors, but you need chemistry. You need something special and these two are super talented. You can see when the artists are doing it for the passion. These two came several days apart and I was just sitting there (thinking) the stars finally aligned," she adds.
Having the support of someone like Montague, who knows first hand what they are going through, means the world to both Kholiavchuk and Liverinova.
“You can be talented, you can do your job well, but it’s all about who you meet on your path. Immigrating is hard. It’s hard to start from scratch in a new place," Liverinova says. "You can be the best artist, but it’s all about the universe and about the people who come along, the stars, and all of that (coming) in place together — and that’s what happened.
“From the first day when the war broke, if it wasn’t for people, strangers, (I) wouldn’t be here,” Kholiavchuk says. “People who are just willing to step up and bring the right people together and who then guide and mentor are all super important.”
Although it was more than two decades ago, Montague will never forget the people who helped her along her own journey to starting a new life in Canada.
“I went through a very rough immigration process myself and I believe that it’s important to have faith that someone will (help you),” she says. “It’s all about giving back. One day, back 25 years ago, someone (lent) me a hand and since then I have been trying to give that energy back to people, especially women.
"It was hard to be here on (my) own. I was younger than them doing all kinds of jobs. I had no passion like they do, so they’re on the right path. They’re way ahead of where I was and it’s amazing.”
