At the age of 20, Adam Curlykale got his first tattoo. The small message on his arm simply read, 'I am'.
However, 12 years later, 90 percent of his body is covered in tattoos, including his eyes. And it's not like he's slowing down, either, with plans to fill up as much of the remaining 10 percent as he can.
Born in Kaliningrad, Russia and raised in Poznan in Poland, he now lives in London. In September last year he had his eyeballs tattooed and his face covered, documenting the transformation on Instagram. In a short space of time he completely changed his look from tattoo enthusiast to full-body tattoo obsessive.
"I always knew that I was different from the rest of society," he explained. "My favouite colour has always been grey - in different tones - and that's why my current skin colour is graphite."
The only areas of his body that are untouched are his armpits, the palms of his hands, the soles of his feet and his butt - but he has plans to cover those areas up to at some point - at least up to "99 percent".
He also explained how exactly he gets his artwork done:
"I design my tattoos because it's my body. I have a specific vision for myself and I do it step by step. Life is so short that I stopped wondering what will happen tomorrow."
"Currently I make my own tattoos so I don't have to pay someone else.
"Places where I cannot reach myself, my best friend helps me out.
His 'live in the moment' attitude may have begun when he was diagnosed with cancer of the large intestine at the age of 22. After months of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, molecular therapy and stem cell therapy he was severely weakened. He developed a number of skin conditions, eating disorders and even attempted suicide during a deep depression.
But since he has made the major changes to his appearance in the last year, he hasn't received the best responses from the public. While he was living in Poland he was met with verbal and physical abuse, with some even throwing stones and bottles at him.
"People assumed I was mentally unstable. Since I tattooed my face about a year ago, the situation has drastically changed because people started to be afraid of me.
"I'm not neutral for people. You either love me or hate me, admire me or feel like vomiting. Now I have stopped noticing people's reactions and reacting to them myself.
"I did not accept myself and others did not accept me. Tattoos allowed me to discover myself again. I became beautiful to myself."
He said Berlin, Stockholm and London were far more accepting, but in general "the world isn't ready for people like me".
Adam is also a practising psychologist, cosmetologist, artist, barber and singer - and found success as a model due to his distinctive look.
"People like me are not represented well in mass media. People are afraid to risk and promote body modifications
"I'll die fulfilled, as a someone who wasn't afraid to take chances, someone who lived regardless of other's opinion but in harmony with himself.
"I'm not that different than everyone else. I eat, sleep, cry and laugh with everyone else. I'm no better or worse. I'm just myself and myself is enough."
It's weird to think that it wasn't that long ago that Adam was merely someone with an interest in tattoos, but has since completely transformed himself into something completely different. But it seems like he's found happiness in this pursuit, so all the power to him.
