Concept and session information ⟣
My approach to tattooing stems in starting a conversation with you, and with your body. The design and the patterns within it are based on how your body moves, how the ink spreads over the skin, how the skin responds to being tattooed, how your pores open up etc. They are also placed purposefully close together so that as you age, the tattoo ages too, not as a perfect product, but instead a living work that is still in constant conversation with you.
There are two main concepts within my work -
a.
To fill the space inbetween.
This aids the eye of the viewer over the landscape of the body .
Giving density points to the spaces inbetween .
Like when we read words and our eye only registers certain letters, the density points
help the body
become more readable,
bringing it
to the forefront.
This type of work covers a vast expanse, as it needs a lot of space to breathe. In order to achieve balance the small details may expand further than what the main objective of the project is.
b.
To disrupt the viewers perception of the body.
This creates a confusion between
our initial reading of the body
and of the marking .
Thereby engaging the viewer in a more
present
perception of
the body.
This type of work is usually high in density and detail, usually taking a lot of coverage. Like previously, it may require expansion into areas further than the main objective of the project, in order to keep balance.
Some of my work is a blend of the both. After all, their binary is an illusion.
The work is also a reflection of my synesthetic experience of the world. I perceive sound, and also emotion, through depth, rhythm, repetition, pattern, waves, planes and journeys. Through getting to know you I am able to form a better synesthetic landscape to pull references of texture and pattern from.
MY PROCESS⟣
As a sensitive person, in my artistic process I work with a large amount of data (sensory, emotional, biographical, …). The two main inputs for my work are: 1) physical body of a person and 2) their Self/personality
1) Body as an input. Using superficial observation, I engage with looking at a body as a three-dimensional object in space. Taking into consideration your individual anatomy I observe movement and the range of motion. I study natural curves and shape of the body and it’s characteristic features. Even subtle qualities like scars, stretch marks or hair are important data I take in to process.
2) Person as an input. Your personality, temperament, your energy are all significant attributes which serve as an input. In order to be able to align the design with the person, I want to learn something about you first. This provides me with the fundamental context within which a connection can be established between the tattoo and the owner of the body.
THE SESSION⟣
My offering to you in regards to the design and tattoo process.
Projects with me usually take a long time, this is why I work with one person per day with few exceptions. I like to allow the process to develop intuitively and for that both you and me need time and space to breath. A session can last between 6-12 hours.
When you arrive we will first sit down together, have a chat and get to know each other better, acclimatise to the space.
Once we feel comfortable we will move to the work area and the design process will begin.
First I will observe your form, this means that I will ask you to undress to your underwear (if you are comfortable) in order for me to be able to see how everything connects and flows. I will then begin rough sketches directly on the body with water-based markers. Once I have “caught” a design that feels true we will look into the mirror and I will explain my motivations to you. This is a perfect time to observe within yourself and communicate to me any emotions that come up in response to the markings.
When communicating about the design on the day I encourage moving away from objective/technical language. Instead, I highly recommend using emotive language and describing how the tattoo feels to you.
ie.
“this feels too aggressive” “this feels flowing” “this too constricting” “this feels too calm”.
The better I understand you as a person and your emotional response to markings, the better and bigger my palette becomes that I can draw from. Through this type of call and response we can try to capture an emotion/state that resonates with you directly.
that was a lot- thank you for sticking it out till the end!
click below for the booking newsletter