New York tattoo artist Myra Brodsky has created a line of spooky inspired tattoos titled Cabinet of Curiosities, which features ghouls, goblins and 19th century magic. Strongly influenced by art nouveau and the Victorian age, Brodsky has developed a style that is feminine, classic yet dark…
I’m not interested in making little girls happy in the simplest way, and if I was I wouldn’t even be able to serve that, I only see the world through my own twisted mind and it just happens to be dark inside of there. I cannot help it.
What inspired you to become a tattoo artist and what drew you to the world of tattooing? I did not become a tattoo artist because I really wanted to. For me it came out of an emergency situation. I was 19 when I started to tattoo. I had to pay college fees and rent all by myself after I lost my father. My mother stopped talking to me and disappeared after he passed so I had to figure out a way to provide for myself. Luckily tattooing gave me the chance to generate some pocket money. At that time I had no idea what I was doing so I let my insane state of mind direct my actions.
How long have you been tattooing? I started tattooing in 2008 when I met my best friend at the time who was already working at a tattoo shop. I did not take it seriously when I started and it was more of a way to try out things and tattoo my friends. It took me a while to figure out that it was something I could actually get really good at.
How would you describe your style? How has it developed over time? It’s always very hard for me to put in words what my style is about. I get inspired by a lot of different things, periods of art and places I’ve been to. I settled down in New York City a while ago. But when I was still traveling from one place to another without a steady home base, I was so mad about absorbing all sorts of inspiration I was able to find anywhere in this world. Soon my style transformed into a blend of decorative elements you can basically find in any given period of art from the past and comic-like rather more modern characters that bring the scenery to life. I’m glad that I received my O1-visa for aliens of extraordinary ability as I have the privilege to travel back and forth between America and Europe whenever I want to. I’m sure my style is going to transform again in a few years.
Designs from Cabinet of Curiosities
What do you love to tattoo and what would you like to do more of? What I most like about tattooing is trying to figure my clients out and find a personalised idea that really suits them. Everything has to make sense no matter what idea we are talking about. If I tattooed a large-scale griffin on someone’s arm there’s supposed to be a reason why. Personalities become alter-egos become simplified images.
What inspires your tattoos? Do you think your German roots inspire your designs? I would not necessarily say that my German roots play a fundamental role since I consider myself a European citizen rather than a German. I went to art school and I know a lot about art history and love to help myself to all the decorative and adorning elements that most periods offer. They’re classic, they’re organic and can easily be used as a timeless way to complement your design. It just makes sense to me to tattoo them since classic art never gets old. People still pay admission to see old paintings in museums so I’m sure they won’t regret getting details of them tattooed. But still I need something else to break the sweetness in there. And I’d like to manifest that these days I mix my knowledge of art history with more modern elements I find in adult cartoons from the 70s-90s.
You’ve created a series of designs based on a Cabinet of Curiosities, where did this idea come from? I take the subway everyday, I drink a lot of wine among other things and I watch a lot of B-Movies. I guess that explains at least something.
Design from Cabinet of Curiosities
