Read the story behind therapist and model Laurence Moniasse Sessou’s tattoos and scarification in ‘The Modification Issue’ #6, thingsandink.com. The feature includes Laurence’s story in her own words, a stunning eight-page emotionally-charged photo shoot and also comments from her body modification artist Iestyn Flye and her tattoo artist Touka Voodoo, both work at Divine Canvas.
Here’s some unpublished images from the shoot, and the illustrations by Katerina Samoilis that were based around Laurence’s story and used as projections in the background of the photo shoot.
The beautiful Laurence Moniasse
Illustrations based around the story of Laurence’s scarification and tattoos
Photography and Art Direction – Josh Brandao Model – Laurence Moniasse Sessou Words/Story – Laurence Moniasse Sessou and Alice Snape. Thanks to India Ame ‘Ye’ for the title Illustrations and Set Dressing – Katerina Samoilis Styling – Olivia Snape Make-up and Hair – Anna Wild using Nars Septum Ring – Studio Lil Art and Design Earrings – Manaka Handmade
Food is essential fuel, enabling us to move, function – think.
“The idea behind ‘Food for Thought’ was to shoot a series of images, which explore the desk as environment. Mixing real stationery items with stationery made from food, specifically from icing and cheese, we created a deceptive image, requiring closer inspection and greater thought in order to identify which items are real and which have been crafted from food.” Kristy Noble
Check out the latest issue of Things&Ink to see more work from Kristy and Yvonne, Form And Function – a still life with piercing equipment in The Modification Issue, buy from our website, thingsandink.com.
So, we’ve just about recovered from Brighton Tattoo Convention. It was a hectic weekend of meeting people, selling magazines, talking tattoos and, for some of us, getting tattooed – and we loved every minute of it (there may have been a lot of Sailor Jerry cocktails involved too).
We met loads of incredible people, and we want to say a huge thanks to everyone who came to our stand and bought a magazine from us – new readers and old, it’s always a pleasure to meet you face to face and hear what you think about Things&Ink.
Our stylist Olivia also got tattooed by Brad Stevens from New York Adorned.
Sunshine Tattoo by Brad Stevens
Cover star Grace Neutral and editor Alice Snape enjoying SJ cocktails – things got messy
If you didn’t get a chance to come and see us, make sure you follow our FB page facebook.com/thingsandink, and also on Instagram and Twitter, for news, photos and updates.
And you can order the latest issue (#6) The Modification Issue, starring Grace Neutral, from our website, thingsandink.com.
Goodbye for another year Brighton, we can’t wait for next year already
27th February – 29st March 2014 Opening night: Thursday 27th February The Circle, 21 Noel Street, W1F 8GP
Loaded with a myriad of connotations, the skull has always been a source of inspiration for artists. From Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Skull With A Burning Cigarette’ to Damien Hirst’s notorious platinum and diamond-encrusted creation, they can be found in countless masterpieces. For Everyone’s Got One Atomica has curated work by a variety of artists who have also used the timeless icon as their subject…
Artwork from: Castro Smith / Charlie Immer / Cil Laurens / Dan Holliday / Luke Thomas Nick Sheehy / Ramon Maiden / Tom Bagshaw Plus: ceramics and glass skulls from Bespoke Barware
The opening night party for this exhibition also coincides with The Circle’s two year anniversary – so it’s gonna be a big one!
To celebrate the occasion a selection of artists, including Ricardo Cavolo, Jack Pearce and Mister Paterson, have created exclusive skull tattoo flash designs. Available as tattoos at The Circle for the duration of the showcase, the flash sheet artwork will also be up for grabs as a special limited-edition print.
Tattoo flash designs from: Cil Laurens / Jack Pearce / Mister Paterson Nick Sheehy / Rebecca Vincent / Ricardo Cavolo
Tattooers on the night: Aaron Goswell / Jethro Wood / Rebecca Vincent and a guest spot by Mister Paterson
KMFDM has been one of my favourite bands for more than 20 years, so getting the chance to see them live (again) and spend most of the day hanging out chatting about tattoos and music was wonderful fun. On October 28th, I took the day off work, packed my camera bag and headed to Toronto, to the Phoenix Concert Theatre. Kapt’n K, Jules, Andy and Steve, along with the crew and the opening band, CHANT, which that night was Bradley Bills alone (passport issues kept his bandmate in the US), were so lovely and a real joy to sit and share stories with. Then there was the music … absolutely sublime. Best birthday present EVER!
What you will find below are the complete transcripts of Jules, Andy, Steve and Bradley, on how tattoos have modified their lives. Listening to these guys tell stories is what inspired me to write about lived experience, since they so clearly demonstrated it. At the bottom of the blog is a gallery of all the shots I took that day. Click on the image to see it bigger and with some details. I’ve also included some tattoo pics of KMFDM crew members David and Josh in the gallery as well. It’s everything I couldn’t squeeze into my article (found in Things & Ink #6: The Modification Issue). Enjoy! ~Kimberly
-Jules Hodgson-
I came quite late to the tattoo game, so my first one wasn’t until 2000. A “tribal” on my right arm that was done in Japan by Permanent Mark. After its completion it was clear that I had gotten what looked like a tribal version of the old Kellogg’s corn flakes rooster. I’m in the process of having the covered up. The piece of flash on my upper right arm was done a year or two later at a shop in Tampa, FL while on tour with KMFDM. I recall Steve getting something done at the same time.
Next up was the glorious back piece that was done by my ex girlfriend who was apprenticing at a shop here in Seattle (where I live). I thought it would be novel to combine the”diamond” logo (Pig being the band that myself, Andy and Steve were in prior to joining KMFDM) with the fist symbol from the kmfdm “symbols” album. The addition of flames also seemed like a grand idea. The fact that she and I were in the process of splitting up and it was her first tattoo on something that wasn’t a grapefruit didn’t deter us from going ahead with the plan and the results speak for themselves!
The line work on my left arm is about 6 years old and I’ll complete the sleeve one day. It’s a bio-mechanical “twisted metal” thing that I’m sure is going to look amazing when I find the time and money to complete it. It was done by Jesse Roberts at Lucky Devil Tattoos in Seattle.
Most importantly, and most recently I’ve been covering up the “tribal chicken” with a more traditional roses and cobra sleeve. It’s a thinly disguised band tattoo – mine and Andy’s other band The Spittin’ Cobras. So as not to mislead your readers, it’s not industrial in any way. Think more punk/metal/hard-rock-n-roll. Sort of Motorhead vs AC/DC vs Judas Priest on PCP! How was that for a shameless plug? HaHa!
I’m really excited to get this finished. It’s being done by good friend Chani Murat, owner of Good Karma Tattoos in Edmonds, Washington. Every time we’d see each other she’d rib me about getting my tribal chicken covered up, so we got to it and started on my sleeve a wee while ago. Next up is going to be a heart and banner with my dog’s initials on my right wrist, and after that, who knows? Probably not another tribal chicken, though…
-Andy Selway-
I started getting tattooed at about age 14 or 15, at a tattoo shop in Ipswich, UK. Me and a friend saved up lunch money, about £5 each, and went to this back alley shop. These were little flash. Most are now covered over by other bigger tattoos. I had an uncle, one of my dad’s brothers – uncle Arthur – had a prison tattoo. Few playing cards on his arm. I saw them and I just wanted them. Always wanted to fill up.
God, the early ones were awful, so needed to cover up and go bigger and bigger. Then just had to fill up the rest when the empty spaces were noticed. Once you fill arms, chest and such, might as well do your back … and then you’re full.
Many are tour mementos – tattoos as tour souvenirs and band tributes (Swine, Pig, KMFDM, etc.) when tattoo artists are willing to do them for free. My left forearm, this 3-headed purple thing was by a fan boy. Got it 2 days till end of the tour. Started it – 1.5hrs – immediately prior to going on and drumming – and 1.5hr after playing. Beyond painful. You know Andy, Jules and I have been present for each others tattoos (most of them). Since 1997 or so we’ve been together (1996 he and Steve were in PIG, then Jules came in 1997). I gotta mention these guys too, for my tattoos and other art:
Dan Gold, Astronaut guy on my arm, London Ink (Graffiti artist, Denmark)
Artist for cobra tattoos & Spittin’ Cobras band logo – Mark ‘Firehazzard’ Hodgkinson, he has a website and Facebook
Bones Lininger (my cobras tattoo) Fort Lauderdale, Bones Tattoos & Barbers (shop no longer exists?) – now an independent artist in Florida. I have plans to see him for a big back piece and some touch-up work on other tattoos
So, briefly I suppose living and growing up in London UK in the 80’s I wasn’t aware of Tattoo art, as virtually nobody had anything other than the odd prison/ school yard pin and ink (cue Skinheads with a spider’s web and tear on their faces). The art hadn’t really developed as it has today, so apart from the odd aged roadie or biker at a rock festival there were no peers.
When Jules, Andy and I toured the US in ’97 as Pig supporting KMFDM we became more aware of the advanced US development of Tat Art . We wore suits onstage in those days so we were protected from revealing our virgin flesh. Andy, I remember, had a couple of coloured scabs that he insisted were Tats and he eventually had a tour tat that turned sceptic and peeled. Not a particularly enticing experience for Jules and I so we didn’t give them much more thought. Eventually it became apparent to me that this tour was fast becoming the time of my life and the only fitting memento would be an indelible one… A few years later and now on tour as KMFDM , it didn’t take us long to find a keen fan boy artist in Tampa to deliver our first ink. I rushed the decision and chose some colourful flash. He proceeded, while I gently snoozed, to choose olive-green as the only hue his colour blindness could register. I awoke from the tour fatigue and the gentle stabbing of the needle (quite a soporific experience despite what others warned ) to find a large bloody, verdant smudge on my upper arm. However, despite my disappointment at the shoddy needle – work, I gushed like a teenager onstage that evening, with my cellophane, bandaged arm, dripping and bloody a true rock ‘n roll badge of honour. Not one known for succumbing to peer pressure, I felt I had captured the essence of my foreign adventure and never missed a photo opportunity to show it off.. Ha! What did I care if it more resembled a piss stain on my Khaki pants than a multi-coloured, fire-breathing Dragon?
These days teenagers with full sleeves and full chest pieces (and that’s just the women), have made me a little more wary, not to mention the huge hourly rate increases due to said popularity. However I’ve collected a few and still catch myself staring longingly at others ink and I feel good to be part of the experience . But unless we start selling truck loads of records again or that colour-blind fan boy from Tampa calls me, that will be all for now …
(Dragon, upper left arm) Jesse Roberts, Dark Age Tattoo, Seattle, WA
It definitely enriched my life experiences for the better. As a musician, it’s always wonderful to share the experience of writing music with another musician, so likewise, as an artist or even a human who loves art – when you get tattooed, you are sharing that art experience with the artist in a very open, intimate, and personal way – especially if it is custom art and represents something of deep meaning in your life – like my larger pieces (the Dragon and the Whale). But, another great thing about tattooing and art is that it doesn’t ‘HAVE’ to be all serious and full of deep meaning. Art is FUN, and like the silly anchor I have on the back of my leg, it was a fun and liberating experience to run get something with some friends so we had something to share. If I never got ‘inked’ then that would be fine, but then I wouldn’t have these experiences.
For ‘Tattoo credits’ – here are the shops and artists in Austin, TX who worked on my big pieces:
