Tag: tattoos

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Tattoos: 150 years of body art

Susanna Kumschick, a Swiss anthropologist, has curated an exhibition in Hamburg charting 150 years of body art. “I started with skin, because I really think if you are studying tattooing, you need to look at human skin closely too,” Susanna explains. She believes that the tattoo industry has not been represented enough when discussing anthropology in relation to art and design and after much research she “was surprised that it wasn’t actually a subject in art and design museums until recently.”

Thea Duskin, Untitled 2011

Kumschick discusses how tattoos have been represented throughout history in artists’ work, “They were always inspired by the aesthetics, from early on – the human body has been a subject in art for a long time, and so is painting on the body.”

The artist Fumie Sasabuchi adds tattoos to photographs taken from fashion magazines using traditional motifs taken from the Japanese Yakuza mafia. “Tattooing is more fashionable because we show our skin much more than in the past, so it’s more of a communication medium. We should look at them closely, because it depends where you have them on your body – you’re saying different things by the location you choose. It’s normal to have one today but it’s still a statement if you put one on your face, unlike one on your chest or ankle.” The image below was created from a photograph taken from children’s magazine Vogue Angels.

She also looks at how tattoos can stigmatise certain people.  The photographer and filmmaker Christian Poveda spent a year with members of the Mara 18 gang in El Salvador, who cover themselves in tattoos marking the numbers of people they’ve killed or commemorating the death of a fellow gang member.

The exhibition is at MK&G in Hamburg until 6 September 2015.

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Tattoo the Taboo

 

Meet Kerry-Anne, tattooer and owner of Cock A Snook tattoo parlour in Newcastle… for years she suffered with mental health problems, but she suffered in silence, she felt unable to tell anyone due to the stigma… read her story and find out how you can help below. She has now organised a charity tattoo day to raise awareness of mental health issues and also has a support group called Tattoo The Taboo on Facebook.

“Even though I have suffered with long-term mental health issues, I didn’t ask for help until I was 31. Because of this I lost friends, let customers, colleagues and peers down, which over time made my illness worse. This also greatly impacted my ability to make tattoos. When I decided to ask for support and treatment, I wondered what I had been so afraid of? Why didn’t I seek help before?

“I was terrified of other people finding out, I felt like it was showing weakness. I had subjected myself to a self-inflicted stigma that had festered to the point that I had no idea how poorly I was. I thought it was completely normal to hate myself, be riddled with doubt and see the world through negative eyes. I believed that I would never be happy and that I was just really shit at life. In hindsight, and after starting treatment, I can look at things more objectively. I’m not worthless, I’m kind, caring and compassionate and I have just as much right as anybody, to live a happy and normal life. I wasn’t shit at life, I was just struggling with a crippling illness.

“I decided I couldn’t bare the weight of keeping secrets and lying about my illness, so I took the step to gradually let people know. Even though I was scared, I was surprised at how supportive everybody was. This encouraged me to tell everybody else without being apologetic, as I realised the stigma surrounding mental health was the biggest factor as to why so many people go untreated and unsupported through their illness.

“I also wanted to do something about tackling the stigma, as the more people I told, the more I realised that it was so much more common than I had expected. Some of my favourite people, who I knew inside and out (or so I thought) then shared their own struggles with me. I decided to share my story and made a support group on Facebook called “TATTOO THE TABOO” to  raise awareness of mental health issues and also to do some fundraising to boot. This group is inclusive and for anybody who has, or is suffering with any mental health problems and also for people who have been affected in some way, whether it be caring for somebody who is suffering, or if these issues have impacted on you in some way.

“The group is a platform for people to share their stories and to do some fundraising. The the stigma needs to stop and understanding needs to start. I already have  over 100 artists keen to take part in some “TATTOO THE TABOO” events. The first being on 4 July 2015. Tattooers will be making flash, etc to tattoo on customers who support the cause, the money raised will go to a mental health charity. Lots of the artists are donating paintings, prints, and merch, or whatever they can, to be exhibited, photographed for a book and then auctioned, with all the proceeds donated to the same charity.”

Kerry-Anne is still looking for other tattooers who wish to participate or donate to the event. For more info email cockasnook@hotmail.com. Hopefully as a tattoo community we can all pull together and make this worthwhile.

Check out the following links for more info: Facebook event, Cock a Snook, and the Instagram accounts: @cockasnook @littlekezz

 

 

 

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Songbird Tattoo Studio

Songbird Tattoo Studio has recently moved to Exeter’s High Street, becoming the most central shop in the Southern City.

This beautiful emporium is a custom shop, which is open to the public but maintains the ambiance of a private studio. A highly unique space with much to spark the imagination, the studio has an air of relaxation and friendliness about it.

Studio owner and tattooist Nic Smith works mainly in Mehndi, geometric pattern decorative styles, and also enjoys colour work. She’s inspired by patterns, fabrics and varied religious iconography. All of these things not only inform her work but have impacted on the shop’s interior.

Syluss focuses his attention on custom illustrative work and also excels at portraits and black & grey.

Ryan Ousley works primarily in a bold new school style, favouring bright colours.

Email songbirdtatoo@live.co.uk for booking and enquiries and follow Songbird Tattoo on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for studio updates and more tattoos.

 

 

 

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Beauty is not only ink deep – a tattooed photographic portrait series

Have you seen the latest project focusing on tattoos? Photographer Niall Patterson has created a personal project to show the beauty in tattoos and those who wear them. He wants to move away from the stereotypes and negative social prejudices attached to tattoos and instead show the world how truly beautiful they can be. The project is called Beauty Is Not Only Ink Deep.

Each photograph in the collection displays a quote from the person in the picture, describing how they feel about their tattoos and what they mean to them.

Images from Beauty is not only ink deep.