Artist interview features

224 30 April 2013
20 3 May 2013
86 28 March 2013
  • Who would’ve thought that a wizard, an outing to one of the world’s greatest museums, and a closer look at the surrealist works of Salvador Dalí, could lead to the formation of a tattoo artist? You learn something new every day… “In hindsight, I’d say my dad may have been responsible,” says Columbus Ohio-based tattoo...
  • Whatever your opinion of the ‘ink’ shows currently running the gauntlet on TV, to deny they had collectively changed the face of modern tattooing would be foolish. Thus, when Ami James agreed to partake of a Skin Deep-style grilling, we turned up the heat. At the southern-most point of Sinai is the city of Sharm-el-...
  • For centuries, adversity has lead to the creation of captivating works of art and, yes, even success. New York-based painter and tattoo collector, David Stoupakis, is the latest in a line of greats who’s turning his hardships into gorgeous tableaus. Born in Brighton, Massachusetts, Stoupakis was faced with his first...
  • From drawing comics to tattooing in the back of a hair salon to hanging with Filip Leu in Switzerland, I challenge you to find a tattooer with a more interesting tale to tell than Vancouver, Canada-based artist, Jamie Macpherson. Born in Doncaster, Macpherson spent the first seven years of his life being artistically...
  • After a few years of being a graphic designer, MxM started an apprenticeship as a tattoo artist with Filip Leu which lasted for roughly three years, and has now been actively tattooing for four years. Prepare yourself for some fascinating insights into the mind of one of the most clued-in tattoo artists around…...
  • It’s no secret to us ink-loving folk that tattooing is the equivalent of all other art forms, but sometimes it takes a little convincing to get others on the same page. Joe Capobianco’s Hope Gallery, which opened in 2003 in New Haven, Connecticut, recently helped solidify this message with art and tattoo lovers alike...
  • For some tattooists, the call of the ink comes later in life; maybe after getting their first tattoo, going to a convention, or even stumbling across the medium through chance. But to others it is imprinted in their minds from a very early age. One such tattooist is Jason Stephan, who just about wraps up our...
  • The Brazilian painter, Sérgio Ferro, would often paint classical figures and leave them half-finished before going back and splashing them with paint. This would create a challenging visual marriage/ contest of different art movements. Due to political reasons, Ferro was exiled from his own country for 30 years and...
  • Being someone whose artistic abilities amount to well-drawn stick figures (take my word for this), I am always blown away by brilliant art. It continually amazes me when an artist takes a blank canvas, or naked area of skin, and turns it into something that takes your breath away. In more recent years, with the...
  • In 2008 Marija Ripley opened up The Sailor’s Grave in Copenhagen with her husband, Judd Ripley. In 2011 they moved to a new location and now she has a hard time imagining a workplace without him… Marija Ripley grew up outside of Copenhagen where her childhood was characterised by riding and drawing. Unfortunately her...
  • Rome: the world capital of Catholicism where mysticism doesn’t hang around the neck of believers, Diego Brandi carves it into his customers’ skin. A product of the new generation of Italian tattoo artists, Brandi likes to give birth to strange monsters and animals. Fantasy, imposing monsters and eerie icons… prepare...
  • We thought this might be an interesting chain of events – getting Jesse Smith to sit down with friend and protégé, Tanane Whitfield, and put the thumbscrews on him about his work, his art, and a few other things as well. In all its scatterbrained glory, here’s the results of our little experiment. You’ve only been...
  • Sometimes, the best ideas come out of nowhere, but as we shall see, that doesn’t necessarily mean those ideas will come together very fast... I’ve been following this project for some time now. It’s genesis is well documented online and over the last couple of years, Tattoos & Tentacles has achieved no small...
  • At the age of 18, Israeli-born Guil Zekri, left high school like every other kid of that age usually does. But then he did something very few 18-year-olds around the world do, he joined the army. Guil served as a Marine Paramedic in the Israeli Army, one of the world’s toughest and most respected armies. I cannot say...
  • No, no, no – not that sort of punk. Punk of the steam variety – and the second I saw these, I  knew there would be an instant fanbase – if not for the actual concepts, then for miles and miles of inkspiration… The last bit of animated steampunkery we saw from Disney was in Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Sadly, most...
  • Osa Wahn considers herself an artist, not a tattooist. Owing her life’s calling to her father, Osa started tattooing at the age of 12, and she won her first award at Shockin’ City Tattoo convention the following year when she was only 13 years old. On a rainy and freezing cold autumn day, I step inside Shockin’ City...
  • Oly Anger has very quickly made a name for himself as one of Canada’s go-to guys for stunning black and grey work. After reading this, you won’t be in any doubt as to why that is. "I started tattooing by myself, about five years ago in a small town in the east of France. After a few months, I understood I would have...
  • You ever look at an old cathedral and at first, you are just awed by the sheer size of it, but when you look closer, you see the fine detailing etched in there? Looking at Kevin Marr’s work, you get the same feeling because the man does nothing small or by halves… His pieces are big, bold and ballsy. The smallest...
  • With the barrage of tattoo artists and shops popping up on what seems like every other street corner, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to discover tattooers with a few surprises still hidden up their sleeves. So when someone like Matthew J. Hockaday comes around, it’s happy days. A few minutes into a conversation...
  • Poor Josh Bodwell looks bleary eyed. All around him day two of Tattoo Jam is getting cranked up, but his body is still somewhere back in the US. No, we’re not getting all metaphysical – he’s been travelling for 24 hours and his body clock is all over the place. But he’s ready for a day at the convention, right? “Sure...
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