SO MUCH OF YOUR WORK FEELS DRAWN FROM AN INCREDIBLY PERSONAL PLACE. CONSIDERING THIS, HOW WOULD YOU SAY YOUR FORMATIVE YEARS—YOUR FIRST MEMORIES OF INSPIRATION AND CREATIVITY, HAVE TRANSLATED TO YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH TATTOOING?
I grew up making art constantly, and my efforts were encouraged and facilitated by my parents. In my teens I did a lot of graffiti, but when I started tattooing at 18, I was more interested in ignorantly transcending the clichés of the craft with my "art", but I wasn't really grasping anything. Early on, I was showing work in galleries and I was very involved in studio practice. Tattooing seemed to be a sideline that discouraged and alienated me, and I was eventually at a crossroads with it. My tattooing was lacking and I decided that I needed to devote my efforts to it because it was paying the bills, and I left the studio world behind.
Creatively, I've always been more centred in my ideas, and I suppose the tattoos eventually became a reflection of my inclinations. It's been a long arduous process, and I've really had to grow into tattooing to appreciate the magic and mystery of it.
HAVING BEEN TUTORED IN A SPACE YOU’VE DESCRIBED AS A “POSTERCHILD OF 90’S TATTOO STUDIOS”, WHEN WERE YOU FIRST ABLE TO EXPRESS YOUR ARTISTIC IDEAS ON SKIN? DID YOU FIRST HAVE TO CUT YOUR TEETH TATTOOING MORE TRADITIONAL IMAGERY?
In the beginning, I had to cut my teeth doing walk-ins and custom fare of the like. I was never taught how to do traditional tattoos, and my apprenticeship was too misguided and brief to teach any tactile fundamentals. I had to stumble in the dark for about 5-years before anything began to have any artistic direction, and even then, it came too soon.
This story is from the Issue 310 edition of Skin Deep.
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This story is from the Issue 310 edition of Skin Deep.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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Ask Here Part Two
With the release of Tattooing Ask Here—a collection of original and traditional flash, interview, stories and photographs detailing the tattoo history of Felix Leu—we took the spectacularly well-timed opportunity to speak to Loretta Leu about the book and her life with Felix. The following concludes our time well spent…
The SERPENTS of BIENVILLE
SEAN HERMAN’S TRANSFORMATIVE TATTOO
SAVED BY INK
Carlos ‘Loz’ Oliveros has never had any shortage of passion or drive. Inspired by his father, a pro fighter and DIY tattooer, Oliveros started boxing when he was just six years old, then picked up tattooing at 16. All the while surrounded by the realities of Miami’s Mexican gang culture. Saved by tattooing, Oliveros chose to follow a different path than most of his peers. A path he’s now sharing on a VH1 docu-series called Cartel Crew
THE PRODUCER
It’s no surprise at all to run into a guy like Russ Russell. Pretty much every tattoo artist I talk with cites music as a massive influence on their work and lives in general. But while, for most of them, music is a passion—an inspiration, even, for their day job at the tattoo shop—for Russ it’s almost the other way around. Music is his day job, Russ having worked as both a producer and musician for many years, with tattooing coming later on down the line
Why Is That First Tattoo Encounter So Terrifying?
There is something about getting that very first tattoo that will always make you feel a little bit sick when you walk through the door
The Serpents Of Bienville - Sean Herman's Transformative Tattoo
“There is probably nothing more menacing or dangerous than an individual who is devoid of compassion or empathy. When this individual is permitted by community apathy and bias to successfully cloak himself in the attire of one who claims allegiance to his or her Creator, it becomes the moral imperative of those who lay witness to the peril to step up before it is too late. Until such a time when domestic violence and sexual assault are eradicated for good, the perpetrators of these deplorable acts will continue to cause unspeakable harm as Evil’s welcomed ambassadors and Tyranny’s strongest ally.”
The Eternal River
Through impact-laden encounters between ornamental and figural imagery, tattooist Aron Dubois has developed a self-sourced visual language that openly explores symbology, spirituality and surrealism in an effort to “drink from the eternal river” and return to what the Colorado-native defines as “the source”. Drawing much of his inspiration from esoteric literature, mythic archetypes and the natural world, Dubois has spent his decadelong relationship with the craft “digging for the grail of tattooing”. Here, Dubois demystifies his “optimistic escape attempt” from the addictive dangers of digital tools, and the answers he finds in nature when allowing the walls that stand between himself and the world to dissolve
Palm Reader
For centuries we have looked to our palms as a valuable source of information, a complex blueprint of one’s identity, both physical and spiritual. The latter has seen the palm as a bodily map for instigating premonitions, with its many criss-crossing lines foretelling either a joyful life or a foredooming resolution
Japanese Whispers
He is one of the most gifted Japanese tattooers of his generation. From the region of Niigata in the North-East of Japan, he's spreading the beauty of Japanese tattoo culture. All tattoo lovers praise his complex and very detailed compositions which adorn the bodies of some very lucky collectors, but after 20 years, Tomo is ready to move on…
Rule Breaker
Esther Garcia plays by her own rules — she always has and always will. Even with two decades of experience, the Chicago-based artist still finds ways to push herself and innovate. Whether it’s juxtaposing two unexpected styles (she fuses blackout work with botanical imagery inspired by Dutch Masters beautifully) or offering a unique tattoo curation service in which she doesn’t actually tattoo, Garcia isn’t afraid to take risks. What else is up her sleeve? We tracked her down to find out.
