Interview with Alessandro and Simone Covallero, owners of ‘Sinked Art – Tattoo Atelier’
How did you both start your career as tattoo artists?
Alessandro: My career started with a rather curious story. I’ve always been passionate about art and drawing, but my first real exposure to tattoo art came when I was about eleven or twelve, watching TV shows like Miami Ink and Ink Master. I started fantasizing about what it would be like to get tattooed or even become a tattoo artist.
At first, it seemed like an unattainable dream for a boy growing up in the countryside. Reality led me to undertake a path of scientific studies which in the end was essential for my career and my personal growth. In high school, when I reached seventeen, I found myself at sea in choosing a university, but everything changed when my philosophy teacher jokingly showed me a catalog for a tattoo art school and said, “Covallero, since you love tattoos, why don’t you choose this school?” I took that joke seriously, and after high school, I jumped headfirst into this world. I started as an apprentice and for five long years I went around different studios in Veneto and Friuli.
Simone: My story is a bit different. After high school, Alessandro and I went our separate ways. I chose a completely different path far from the artistic field. I enrolled in an Economics degree, but quickly realized it wasn’t for me. I then decided to try to express myself through art, so I took a leap into the unknown—and everything changed. That’s when I decided to follow Alessandro into the world of tattooing.
What differentiates your approach to tattooing?
Alessandro: Simone and I have influenced each other greatly over the years. We’ve always studied together, painted together, and shared what we’ve learned. So it’s normal that our styles are quite similar, but we remain two separate entities with a very distinct sensibility and poetics. My style is infused with literary, philosophical and romantic atmospheres. I always strive to convey a compositional tension in my designs that reflects the same emotions I find in my favorite books and paintings. I think what distinguishes us are our main interests that are reflected in our tattoos. Mine are art, literature and philosophy.
Simone: The constant comparison between us has been fundamental to our artistic growth. It helped us improve and refine our technique faster. This has given us a solid base on which to build our style. While our styles are quite similar, I’m now beginning to explore a more personal path by integrating illustrative elements into my tattoos, seeking a personal direction that reflects my artistic vision. Defining one’s style is a long process, which evolves through experience. I feel like I’m still on that journey to truly define myself, and in a few years, I hope to have a clearer understanding of my artistic identity.
How do you approach clients? Do you ever “pass” a client to each other?
Alessandro: Each of us has built a loyal clientele over time, so we’ve never really needed to “pass” clients to each other. Occasionally, when someone appreciates both our styles, we’ll collaborate on a project—and those are some of my favorite experiences.
Tell us about your seminars. Are they a creative space where the two of you bring out the best in each other?
Simone: We organize both individual seminars, which allow us to focus on a more personal approach, and group seminars, which we hold together though less frequently. When we organize group seminars, this method allows us to better explain our techniques and share our experiences more widely. We cover fundamental topics like chiaroscuro, tattoo composition and the study of the anatomy of the human body, essential aspects for optimal tattoo creation. Teaching is incredibly valuable for us, too. Sharing knowledge helps us grow. Comparison with other people is always an opportunity that favors mutual enrichment, contributing to our continuous process of artistic and professional evolution. Every seminar becomes a meaningful experience that we carry with us.
If you could travel in time and ask questions to historical figures who intrigued you, where would you go and who would you ask?
Alessandro: This is a tough question! There are so many philosophers and artists I’m fascinated by, like Rembrandt, Bacon, D’Annunzio, Goethe, and Nietzsche. But if I had to choose a specific time period, I would go to the French and Italian courts of late Romanticism.
Artists at that time were fighting against the predominance of reason and were searching for a new way of being human.
I believe that today’s artists should embrace that same spirit and have the courage to confront the nihilistic that permeates our society.
Simone: I find the Renaissance period particularly fascinating. I would love to meet artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, and Raphael, to learn about their painting techniques and studies. I would ask them how their creative process took place: from the initial conception of the painting to its final realization. I also wonder how they managed to create such masterpieces without the aid of modern tools like iPads or digital devices. I’d also be curious to know the emotions they felt about the discovery of the “New World” and their encounter with new cultures. Today, it seems like everything is already known, and it’s hard to feel amazed. But The Renaissance was a time of great change, and I’d love to know how the artists of that time experienced those transformations.
What does ‘Sinked Art – Tattoo Atelier’ represent for you? Why did you choose to call it an “atelier”?
Simone: We felt the need to open our own reality surrounded by people who shared our passion and our spirit of sacrifice for this art. That’s how ‘Sinked Art – Tattoo Atelier’ of Pordenone was born (IG: @sinkedartpordenone). Sinked Art is more than a studio, it represents for us a meeting place where art is experienced daily. We decided to call it an “atelier” because we didn’t want to focus only on the tattoo aspect, but also to concentrate on the artistic aspect, exploring other areas such as paintings, prints and canvases. In the future, we would also like to host exhibitions, and expand our artistic vision.
‘Sinked Art’, represents a second home: it’s a place where we find peace and can fully express ourselves.
We’ve worked hard to create a solid and united team, and it’s really exciting to see our vision taking shape. This year, we really feel that the studio has taken on the form we’ve always dreamed of. It’s become a place for artistic exchange, where tattoo artists come together to share ideas and learn from one another. Having guest artists join us has helped us grow as a team, and it’s been an incredible experience to collaborate with so many talented people.
And your famous last words?
Alessandro: They are the words of Oscar Wilde: “A great poet, a truly great poet, is the most unpoetic of creatures. Poets of lesser talent, on the other hand, have much more charm: the poorer their rhymes, the more picturesque they appear. The mere fact of having published a book of mediocre sonnets makes a person irresistible, because he lives the poetry that he doesn’t know how to write. Others write the poetry that they don’t have the courage to live”. And I sincerely hope I’m not “picturesque” at all! (laughs)
Simone: I always keep in mind the Latin phrase “Homo faber fortunae suae,” which means “man is the maker of his own destiny.” Through dedication and passion, anything is possible, even the most ambitious goals. For me, curiosity is key. Always being curious about the new, the different, and the unknown is what keeps us growing, as artists and as individuals.
Follow Alessandro Covallero on Instagram: @alessandrocovallerotattoo
Follow ‘Sinked Art – Tattoo Atelier’ on Instagram: @sinkedartpordenone
