Category: Features

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Interview with Tattooist Artem Iam

32-year-old tattoo artist Artem Korobov Iam works out of a private studio,  in Tel Aviv Israel and creates tattoos in what he describes as a graphic style. We chat to Artem about his unique tattoo pieces and what inspires his abstract work…

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How long have you been tattooing? How did you become a tattooer? I work at my private studio in Tel Aviv Israel. I opened this space together with Shiran, my girlfriend who is also a tattooer – our shop is called DUMIYA. I’ve been tattooing around four or five years now. I become a tattooer when I was in Spain, that’s when the idea of tattooing came to me. Before tattooing I worked a lot of different jobs – almost most of them shitty.

What drew you to the world of tattooing? I’ve been drawn into the world of tattooing, mainly because I think the time, place and everything was right and felt right. Everything was exactly how it needed to be! I know that now I have found myself!

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How would you describe the tattoo scene in Israel? What sorts of reactions to tattoos get over there? The tattoo scene in Tel Aviv is a little bit better than in the rest of Israel. Because Tel Aviv is the centre, and Israel is not a big country, most of the good artists can be found in Tel Aviv. I don’t really have a lot to say about the scene in Israel but it is good. Everything is moving slowly here, but the clients that are here have open minds which is so good! You can also find some super unique artists here as well. But you can count them on one hand, if you know what I mean.

I love to tattoo in Israel though, it’s my home. From a really young age I grew up in this country, although I was born in Siberia. So I love Israel, when people ask I say I was born here. I also really love my clients, well almost all of them! They are open minded with me, which is great for me as I can do what I love and what I like which is a great thing!

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How would you describe your tattooing style? I would call my style graphic Avantgarde. I mix different techniques with some graphic realism, abstract texture or different kinds of elements. Some of these I make on my iPad and some of them I draw, or I make the parts on Photoshop and then mix it altogether to get the design. Sometimes I make some abstract works that are all freehand.

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What inspires the pieces you create? Everything is inspiring to me, it could be a sport, a player or fighter. It could be music, good movies, lyrics from songs or writers that I love. Other times it can be the weather or the atmosphere around me – really I think I am inspired by everyone and everything.

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Do you admire any other artists and do they influence your work? There are a lot of good artists that I love and that I am inspired by. I travelled around the world for two years meeting loads of good people, whose work I loved as well. My good friends are from Brazil, they’re like my brothers and they inspire me a lot. But also lots of the other places I have been have an affect on my work too.

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What do you like to tattoo, and what would you like to do more of? At the moment I like to tattoo women’s faces with a mixture of different emotions. I also like to tattoo abstract stuff, I like to improvise and experiment. Every time I do this I am finding more and more out about myself! I don’t really know what else I want to tattoo, I do want to progress. I’m always looking to make something, new and fresh, or at least try to!

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Kewpie Tattoos

If you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll know that we’re just crazy about kewpies. We first shared our love for these adorable dolls in Number 3 of Things&Ink magazine – The Love Issue. Now we’re seeing that a lot of tattoo collectors and tattoo artists share our feelings for these little cuties… 

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Do you have a kewpie tattoo? Tag us in your photo on Instagram so we can see it! 

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How Getting a Tattoo after Rehab Helped me to Stay Sober

Shaira is a marketing supervisor of a retail store in Denver City, Colorado, and this is how her personally designed tattoos helped her to  stay sober. The 26-year old shares how she started getting some ink after successfully getting out of rehab, and how it led her to design tattoos for others…

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When did you start getting a tattoo? I was actually 21 years old then. I had just got out from rehabilitation in Colorado and felt that I needed a diversion. I came across the Things&Ink blog and saw how liberating it was to have that freedom to do art on your own body. I was more enticed when I saw the other guest bloggers whom themselves are tattooed. It was also that time when Ink Master and other similar shows started to gain traction. I got hooked.

Before then I was hanging out with older people who became my friends. They taught me how to drink alcohol until I barely was sober. That was when my parents sent me to rehab. When I got out, ink became my diversion. I started designing for myself, and since then, I would get one whenever I found myself desiring alcohol.

How many tattoos do you have right now? I actually have 70, most of my tattoos were inked soon after my release from rehab. The urge to go back to drinking was much stronger then and the feelings of depression were still strong. So, I got one after the other. It’s both a good thing and a bad, that I am gaining more control over my desire to go binge drinking because I feel more free from the disorder. Unfortunately, I no longer have that extra reason to get myself tattooed again.

What prompted you to start designing tattoos? One of my closest friends saw me designing my tattoo one time. She was amazed and wanted one for herself, but I was hesitant back then. This was something that I was mainly doing for me, and I didn’t have the courage to do other designs. But I started checking out sites of other tattoo artists and found that designing can be learned. The artist in me was awakened. I believe that it helped me to get over my depression and squashed my desire to abuse alcohol.

Can you tell us more about tattoos helped you overcome alcohol abuse? It was in one of my Denver AA meetings that I encountered the idea again of doing art as part of the substance abuse treatment. It was part of my treatment package when I was in rehab, but it was not my time yet. It did not strike me much then probably because I was still not ready to leave my addiction behind me. The experience proved to me that the process of rehabilitation really takes time. Just like how I acquired my alcohol dependence which became a full-blown disorder, being treated from it is a step by step process. One cannot just wake up and feel relieved from alcohol addiction.

I started studying the relationship of art as part of rehabilitation from substance abuse disorder. I read a couple of articles online and realized that art therapy and music therapy are vital aspects of complementary and alternative medical practices (CAM). CAM shows a positive effect when implemented parallel to the implementation of treatment programmes for substance use disorders that are evidence-based. When someone finds a healthy way of channeling his or her creative energies through art therapy, their attention is diverted to more positive activities. People like me who suffer from a substance use disorder are provided that comfort from art, and we are relieved of our worries and burdens, especially concern over remission.

What encouraged you to share your experience? The increasing statistics of people experiencing substance use disorder, especially alcohol use disorder, is really bothersome. I underwent the same battle, and I know how difficult it is once the person is already alcohol dependent. But there is hope. That hope is the main reason I’m sharing my experience.

I want more people to know, especially women, that it is not the end of the battle. There are options available for treatment. Rehabilitation facilities offer different treatment options for recovery. Grab the opportunity to free yourself from that disorder. As per my part, I will be willing to help anyone in any way I can. I offer my services to those suffering from substance abuse disorder who want to have a tattoo. I have shared some of my designs to other members of the AA meetings Denver area. I know it is a small favor that I have given them, but it also makes me happy to know that I have a share in their recovery.

Interview by writer Patrick Bailey

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Tattoo Conundrum: Saving Space

Editor Rosie shares her thoughts and fears about running out of space on her body for tattoos – and saving a gap for that artist who works half way across the world…
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If you’re anything like me, most of your time is filled up with scrolling through Instagram soaking in all the new tattoos created that day as well as stumbling over new tattoo artists. Like many tattoo collectors I know, I have a hefty wish list – a list of design ideas and a list of tattoo artists that I have to get work from. Sometimes these cross over, and I have in mind a specific design that I know an artist will nail.

Being based in the UK, many of the tattooists on my watch list are scattered across the globe from Australia to Canada, Germany to Brazil. There are simply too many that I covet, and so too many to choose from – and that’s where the issue lies. There are hundreds of amazing artists and I don’t have enough bare skin! When you factor in tattoo apprentices in the early part of their career and those people that haven’t even begun tattooing yet my anxiety rises further.

As we start to fill up our bodies with designs, we have to make decisions: whose work do we want more? How far am I willing to travel? How much money can I spend? Who does the best work in that particular tattooing genre? Who has the best style for that design I have in mind? How long am I prepared to wait? If I go to an artist more than once, am I missing out? Do I save space on my arm for that artist in Australia, in the vain hope that they guest in the UK or I make it half way across the world? Should I get work off my awesome local tattooist instead?

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These are just some of the thoughts that I have on almost a daily basis, and surely I am not alone? I reached out to my followers on Instagram to find out how others feel about saving space and filling up too fast…

Nia Howarth, Huddersfield:

“I wouldn’t say I’m heavily tattooed! But I’m only 23 and I’m very quickly running out of space. There are artists who are out there who I love and really want to get tattooed by but I don’t think I’ll have the space for everyone! I also love having my boyfriend (Callum Glover) tattoo me because it makes me so happy seeing how proud he is that his girlfriend has work by him.”

Loll Montgomery, Birmingham:

“I got tattooed a lot by the same person during my twenties and now think I should have saved the space and had work from different people. I do love the work I have, I just regret taking up so much space, but I was young and wanted to get tattooed once a month.”

Jen Adamson, Leicestershire:

“I’m not heavily tattooed yet, so fill me up!”

Kiaya, Galway Ireland: 

“I totally get you. I’ve FINISHED my sleeves but taking a huge break now to wait and collect on my legs. Has to be special – all killer no filler. One leg is almost full so have to be selective.”

Claire Smith, Derby: 

“I think this all the time! I worry about conventions and the fact I don’t have many easily accessible gaps left for artists I love. I see pieces by artists and worry whether I’ll be able to get anything by them because I’m filling up so fast! And yet I love all my tattoos. It is so difficult. I think you will always want ‘one’ more and there are always going to be new artists you discover but it doesn’t stop you loving the collection and choices you’ve made.”

But are all of my thoughts and some of yours caused by a worry that our tattoo journeys must end someday? And will that be when we are full? Or does filling your skin never truly end – I mean I could blast over it all and start again?

Photos by Amie Louise Thomas

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Careers: Tattooed Critical Care Nurse

28-year-old Imogen Crisp is a critical care nurse in Manchester who sports an impressive tattoo collection. We caught up with Imogen to find out about her job, what sort of reactions her tattoos get, as well as how she feels as a heavily tattooed woman…

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How long have you been working in your current role? I have been a nurse for four years and worked in my current role for three and a half.

What do you love about your job and what do you find difficult? I love my job because of the sense of reward I get for caring for someone and their loved ones in some of the darkest times. To connect with a person at their most vulnerable and even if only slightly makes it more bearable. I have seen the beauty of the arrival of life, the suddenness of the end of it and every stage in-between. Who can say that for a job? Before becoming a nurse, I felt my life had no real direction or focus, now (fingers crossed) I have a whole career ahead of me and a real sense of purpose. It’s a humbling job and makes you appreciate what you have in life. I have also met some of my closest friends through this work, there is no deeper friendship than a nursing one, trust me.

The most difficult parts of being a nurse I guess is sometimes it can be emotionally draining, you become attached to patients and families and having to see them in some of the toughest times never gets any easier. Also the sense of weight on your shoulders, that you have someone’s life in your hands and you can’t have an off day. You often find yourself sacrificing your own needs to make sure you get everything done for that patient, the old cliché but I have gone 12 hours without a wee. In saying all this though, the good most certainly outweighs the ‘bad’ there is nothing in this world I would rather do.

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Are you allowed to show your tattoos at work? Our uniform covers most areas anyway, but you still must be bare below the elbow so any lower arm tattoos are visible and don’t have to be covered.

How do you think attitudes are changing towards tattoos, especially in healthcare? I have never had any issues with my tattoos at work, colleagues and patients have only ever had positive things to say, it can be a good conversation starter at times. Colleagues who don’t have tattoos or who come from cultures where tattoos are not as ‘popular’ find them very interesting and want to know more about them.

I like to think that attitudes are changing for the better towards tattoos not only in healthcare. People are becoming more open minded, and wouldn’t judge me on my capability as a nurse because I am tattooed which when I first started was a big fear of mine. So far four years in and it’s not happened.

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What sorts of reactions do your tattoos get? Outside of work the majority of my tattoos are on my lower body, so if they are out, you get the odd few stares and comments, usually men shouting ‘nice tattoos love’ which I just politely smile at, other times people are genuinely interested in the art or meaning behind my tattoos. I think heavily tattooed girls still has a bit of stigma attached to it, more so than men, people see it as more of a shock factor for a girl to be so covered, but attitudes are changing we will get there eventually.

Do these differ when you’re at work? In work I only have one or two that poke out the sleeve of my uniform, people usually ask what it is and if they can see it properly, I am always happy to show, its usually only positive reactions.

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Have tattoos helped you to love your body? Absolutely! I knew from a young age I wanted tattoos, and would spend time planning what and where, I didn’t get all the ones I had planned at 16 (thank god) but I did start as soon as I was 18 and now my body is a story of my life. I have tattoos that have meaning, tattoos that remind me of dark times in life, and tattoos from friends and ex’s (wouldn’t recommend but here we are!) I regret none of them, and I believe they make my body beautiful and even more individual.

Is there a particular tattoo that means the most to you? I have yellow roses on my thigh with banners that say ‘Nana’ and ‘Mumma’ the two strongest, women that influence in my life. I idolise them both, when my nana passed all my cousins also got a yellow rose tattoo as it was her favourite flower. I have script that says ‘Good night, God bless’ which is something my grandad still says to me every day. And I even have me as a pin up style nurse, which I got after being qualified for a year.

Do you have any future tattoo plans? At the moment nothing is booked, I’m thinking about getting my back done, but my god does the pain get worse with age! I don’t quite know if I’ve got it in me yet. Maybe something a little smaller.