A motorcycle club founder in Nanaimo wants to show off some of the tattoos underneath her biker gear.
Shelby Johnston, one of the founders of Nanaimo's chapter of the Litas motorcycle community, is competing as a quarterfinalist in Inked Magazine's international 'Inked Originals' competition.
The winner receives a two-page spread in the magazine, a tattoo session from artist Keith (Bang Bang) McCurdy in New York, and $25,000. Votes are cast daily for free or multiple times via donation to charity.
Johnston, who has numerous tattoos covering about three-quarters of her body including a full back piece and leg sleeve, got her first tattoo on a family trip when she was 18. It wasn't until about five years ago, however, while recovering from addiction, that she got the majority of her work done.
"In my old life I was very pushed down, I was very stuck and victimized by my circumstances," Johnston told the News Bulletin. "So my goal in entering the contest was to show how the tattoos I put on my body have been a result of the personal transformation and personal growth that I found as a result of being in recovery. It's kind of, for me, a way to share that message with people."
The reason she started in recovery, she said, was that she built an image in her mind of who she wanted to be.
"This woman I see in my mind who rides bikes, who is covered in tattoos, who boxes, who is strong and has a voice and empowers other women, and I was so far from that person. And so the tattoos were a way for me to reach myself, or reach who I wanted to be, and I look at it like a physical manifestation."
Out of all her pieces, Johnston said she's a big fan aesthetically of her recent leg piece by Mark Jansen with Wanderlust Tattoo Company out of Parksville. The "vibrant and colourful" art features Kitsune and Tanuki – shape-shifting spirits from Japanese folklore.
Her most meaningful tattoos are on her right arm, which features a mashup of Egyptian spirituality and symbolism, with feline Egyptian deities Sekhmet and Bastet prominently displayed.
"A warrior cat and a healer cat goddess, and it's meaningful to me because I think it represents the dual nature within myself which is on one hand wanting to be strong, resilient and powerful and steadfast and then on the other hand wanting to be a healer and nurturing and maternal and loving, and kind of holding both those pieces together and not letting one override the other – because I think they're both necessary."
In early 2025, she took the role of founder with the Litas Nanaimo chapter, a social motorcycle community of women and non-binary riders. She said that similar to the recovery community, it is about empowerment, inclusivity, growth and support.
"It's been incredible because I've been met with a whole bunch of other women who have the exact same goal as me, which is to not be needing someone to lead them somewhere, not needing to be invited places, just women who want to hold themselves and others up. Women who are strong, who have good sense of self-efficacy, a lot of women who are great with mechanics and wonderful riders."
If Johnston wins the contest, she will spend some of the prize money on a vacation, then use the rest to continue school in psychology and Indigenous studies, preparing for law school.
To vote, residents can visit her Inked Magazine profile at http://originals.inkedmag.com/2025/shelby-johnston.
