How I see it

Tattooing does not have a single path or ethos throughout human history. Generalizing, as centuries passed, one can observe its evolution from ancient ceremonial exclusivity to the embrace of societal outcasts to the all-permeating cultural zeitgeist we know today. Most western societies have a population adorned with permanent markings of some kind on their bodies. Now, tattoos can transcend class structures, they can grow in and out of symbolic meaning, but they always embellish whats already there. The goal is to bring designs into existence in way that feels like they had always been there in the first place.

The once rough, strong-arming street shops intimidating customers into a chair or scaring away the unwelcomed is no longer but the saturation of artists in today’s tattoo industry promotes an under-cutting, low-quality, diminished version of what the craft should be. Do not be confused, this has nothing to do with “style” or aesthetic. I don’t believe that I am an authority on what is in or out of trend, of what aesthetics should be allowed to exist but I do subscribe to the idea of refinement through practice. I believe that although the practitioner is the one that creates an image, the client is the one that carries them forward throughout time. I want to be a part of perpetuating fascinatingly decorated bodies seen not just now but also decades later. With respect to the ones that paved the road before me, I believe we should all desire to stand out of the crowd with great pride in what we wear.