Read “In the footsteps of the phoenix” – the editorial by Miki Vialetto, here
Cover Model: Leah Blum
Leah answered us from Marseille, the location of “Prisme Tattoo”, where she and her beloved companion RemyB work: «If it weren’t for him, I doubt I’d be here today – to do this interview, but especially to do this job». These days everything is a bit up in the air, and so sometimes one’s thoughts fly freely, towards exotic destinations like Thailand. Or they focus on that concept that will never stop feeding our minds: tattoo as art form.
Nazareno Tubaru: a black mark on anatomy and the human personality
The spiritual and aesthetic merge onto the body harmoniously with tattoos by Nazareno Tubaru, an avant-garde Argentinian whose style is pure ornamental. Tubaru is a reference point for many tattooists who like to express themselves in this style. An interest in tribal art and the cultural forms linked to it, tattooing in the 90s and the tradition of engraving, as well as experimenting with the blackwork style, before this term was even used to define a certain style… Nazareno tells us all about his story, right here.
The Or Noir Tattoo Gallery: presented by Simone Marchi and Kindamo
Simone Marchi and Kindamo are two Italian tattooists who have been working at Or Noir Tattoo Gallery in Lugano (the Italian part of Switzerland) for three years. They were hand-picked by Alessio Gentile, the owner of this and two other Or Noir shops in the San Gallo Canton. He chose them not only because of their artistic abilities, but also for their personal qualities: for Alessio, humility and self-critique are fundamental to teamwork in a tattoo shop. Alessio motivates new artists entering the team by offering them ways to develop both artistically and personally. That’s how it has been for Simone and Kindamo, two Italians living and working together in the Lugano shop.
Aaron Fitchett: Traditional tattoos with a Gold and Irons look
His style is clearly a tribute to Traditional, with its iconographic imagery full of mermaids, ladies’ faces, and tigers… But he also exalts this style’s classic imprinting: bold lines that give an image shape and power by surrounding and framing it, so that it is clearly visible even from a distance. What tattooist Aaron Fitchett adds to all of this is, of course, his personal touch, seen especially in his color palette and the British style revealed in the details.
Cecile: powerful provocation of the feminine
She was the protagonist of one of our Have a Nice Weekend appointments, which we dedicate once a week on tattoolife.com to a beautiful tattooed woman with a fine collection of tattoos. Besides her beauty, what struck us was her new school, very rock n’ roll style that’s powerful and quite provocative at times. Her name is Cecile – on social networks she’s known as Ccyle – she was born in Paris but adopted Spain as her home, and in order to follow her passion for tattoos she has become quite the globetrotter and citizen of the world.
David Handsmark: spiritual geometric and harmonious ornamental
“The main ingredient to developing any type of style is to follow your own passion until you can’t go any further, without any expectations about what the final result will be, and appreciating the entire process, no matter what.” In a nutshell, this is the professional and life philosophy of David, the owner of Handsmark Tattoo in Helsinki. That’s where David brings his creations to life on skin, mixing his knowledge of ornamental geometric with an ornamental style that’s based on designs whose flow and harmony fit the body.
Pandémia: an Art Project by Miki Vialetto
Faced with such a painful event as the one we’ve all been experiencing and touched by over the last few months – regardless of our geographical location, social position or gender – I felt the desire to give a form, a visual identikit to how the tattoo world has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic. I couldn’t help but do this through an artistic call: I invited some of the greatest representatives of the tattoo world to give this pandemic a face and a soul by following their own creativity and all the emotions that this #lockdown situation has brought up within them and in the world, so that we can all look this virus in the face for what it is, and see what it has created inside of us… Stay tuned!
