Author: Alice Snape

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“The main inspiration is always the emotions that lie underneath the surface, in their raw form,” interview with surreal tattooist, Poesis

We’re obsessed with the work of tattoo artist Poesis. She’s based in Hamburg, and is a resident artist at HOOD7. The tattoos she creates are magical, with an otherworldliness about them, sometimes you’re not quite sure exactly what you’re looking at – doors that open to other doors, bookcases with birds poking their head out… each of the tattoos Poesis creates is born from an emotion – and you can feel that in each one-of-a-kind tattoo. We caught up with the tattoo artist to find out more about her weird and beautiful work…

Poesis / @poesis_tattoo Poesis / from her video art project ’The  Simultaneousness of Blooming & Withering’

Do you have a first memory of tattoos? What made you fall in love with them? 

This is actually quite funny, my first memory of tattoos  is having a crush on this fully tattooed musician. He was covered head to toe and I thought it was the coolest thing. That’s the first time I fell in love with the aesthetic.  

During my teenage years, I used to hang around alternative kids. A friend asked me to draw a tattoo  design for him, that’s when I first encountered the connection between tattoos and the art world I was so interested in. 

The real moment though – the one that got me completely hooked – was when colourful micro realism tattoos started developing a few years ago. The incredible precision of details, the colours, the strong references to the art I grew up with. It captivated my heart. 

It’s really interesting how moments in our life, that maybe seemed insignificant, become turning points on our journey. We’re always subconsciously moving towards where we’ll eventually end up. 

When did you know you wanted to become a tattoo artist? How did you learn? 

I’d just got my second tattoo from Kozo, it was ‘The Old Guitarist’ by Pablo Picasso. While admiring my new  tattoo and searching for the right artistic medium to dive into, I realised that tattooing is the perfect way to  express all my strengths, do the things I love and live a comfortable life. It’s like all the puzzle pieces came  together.  

Later on, I had the opportunity to learn from Kozo himself. After spending a month by his side, we parted ways and I kept learning on my own, developing the technique, process and designs you see today. 

We love your style so much, how did that evolve? Where do your ideas come from and what  inspires you? 

Thank you! The main inspiration is always the emotions that lie underneath the surface, in their raw form. I focus a lot on the feelings I want to convey in the design. It’s all a matter of embracing who we are and  allowing ourselves to be. In these moments, creativity gets the room it deserves, whatever spills out, I roll  with it. My art is me and I’m my art. As I evolve as a person so does my art. As long as I let my creativity roam free my art will keep evolving.  

Techniques always arrive with time, they stay in your muscle memory, slowly developing as you practice. Creativity, on the other hand, can come in a swing. We just need to learn to open that door in the way that suits each of us. Creativity is one of the most important assets and valuable tools to reflect our minds as artists. Nurture it, learn it, develop it, cherish it, keep it safe, love it.  

Poesis / @poesis_tattoo / from ’The  Simultaneousness of Blooming & Withering’

There’s some incredible photos of you on your Instagram, are they inspired by your work? 

These photos are extensions of a bigger multi-medium project I produced and preformed in, called ’The  Simultaneousness of Blooming & Withering’ [you can watch the video on Instagram]. It’s video art inspired by a flash design I made. Apart from the video art, the project holds the stills photos, flower art and the tattoo itself. 

The idea for this project was born after being eager to extend my art to other mediums and to find another way to share what stands behind my tattoo designs. There was a search for self expression, for a way to show a side of Poesis that’s always strongly integrated into my art. 

I collaborated with my friends, a photography duo (Ofek Avshalom and Rona Bar) and with a flower artist (Danielle Barkat), together we executed the concept based on the design and what stood behind it.  ‘The Simultaneousness of Blooming & Withering’ was featured in Vogue, printed in Iconic Artist Magazine and TattooLife Magazine. This project makes me very proud.

Where do you come up with the motifs that you include in your work? From art, life, customer’s  ideas? How do you know what you’d like to mix together in that unique surreal way? 

The inspiration for the motifs I choose is all around, if we open our eyes and mind we can see it in the  smallest to the biggest of things, but mainly, it’s within ourselves. 

Naturally being attracted to surrealism, dark aesthetics, the unconventional, the dreamy and bizarre, I  subconsciously find myself creating symbolism around these worlds. 

Before each tattoo I meet with my clients and I listen to them. Whatever they feel like bringing up, I welcome with open arms. Through that process, a brainstorm will start to appear, motifs that connect directly and  indirectly will float to the consciousness. When creating a design I usually start with this intuitive approach – scrambling around, channeling into a sketch whatever comes to mind.

Sometimes I don’t know exactly what  I’m going for, I just continue focusing on the emotion and experiences we choose to convey, until the sketch forms into a solid image I’m satisfied with. 

How do you like to work with customers and their ideas? 

I’m always open to hear my client’s ideas, explore and work with whatever comes up. If my clients are being  creative, I like to encourage it. Keeping our mind open to new ideas and concepts is crucial for our  connection with our surroundings and ourselves. 

With that being said, I rarely receive a request for a structured idea. My clients trust my artistic abilities and process to embody the emotions that were brought to the surface. Every piece I make is custom, my art holds two worlds that are coming together for a unique, one of a  kind collaboration. In order to create such tattoos, to hold such a mix of precision and creativity, I require artistic freedom and  flexibility. If the artist doesn’t have the freedom to create, the freedom of expression, what’s left of their artistry? 

What’s next? 

Keep focusing on evolving as a person and as an artist. I hope to expand my artistic universe by diving deeper into inner worlds and minds, finding new ways to embody the soul, develop my creativity and explore other mediums to share my art. 

Follow Poesis on Instagram @poesis_tattoo. Her video art project is called ’The  Simultaneousness of Blooming & Withering’

We’re always talking to amazing tattoo artists, check out our latest interviews.

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“Tattoos can mark a milestone moment, symbolise a new beginning or celebrate cherished memories in a person’s life,” interview with tattooist Tanya Buxton

Tanya Buxton started her career as a traditional tattooist, but she realised the power of tattooing extended beyond simple designs on skin. She now creates hyper realistic nipple tattoos for breast cancer survivors – and they look so real they often get removed from social media. We had a chat with Tanya, who tattoos from her welcoming studio Paradise in Cheltenham, to find out more...

Tanya Buxton at Paradise Tattoo Studio in Cheltenham

Can you remember the moment you fell in love with tattoos?

I’ve been obsessed with tattooing for as long as I can remember. I was fascinated by my father’s tattoos as a child. Tattooing called to my soul – it was something I always wanted to pursue from a very young age. The rich cultural history and creative freedom that surround this incredible art form is something I’ve always been drawn to.

Tell is a bit about your journey…

I started out as a traditional tattoo artist but expanding my skills into cosmetic and medical tattooing was something I always wanted to do – right from the beginning of my career. I’ve always loved helping people feel good about themselves. From very early on in my tattooing career, I realised how powerful tattooing can be, how it can uplift and elevate people on so many levels and for so many reasons. 

“Once I began offering cosmetic tattoo services, it opened me up to a whole new world of people who can benefit from tattooing.”

That’s what led me to expand my skills further into medical tattooing. I’ve seen first-hand the impact tattoos have on people, from decorating a scar with a beautiful piece of art to recreating a realistic 3D nipple after mastectomy surgery, tattoos can help heal a person inside and out.

Tattoos can mark a milestone moment, symbolise a new beginning or celebrate cherished memories in a person’s life; they enable people to reclaim their bodies and transform their skin into something they love, helping them to move forward, build self-esteem and boost body confidence.

Tanya Buxton at work

To me, 3D areola-nipple tattooing represents the true power of tattooing. These small tattoos – quite literally – change a person’s life. It is difficult to put into words just how wonderful this form of tattooing is.

They help people reclaim their body back after surgery, illness or trauma, allowing people to move forward in their lives feeling more ‘complete’ and like themselves.

They allow people to feel confident in their skin again, they help people to look in the mirror and love their bodies. These tattoos not only impact a person’s physical wellbeing, but also their emotional wellbeing. 

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AFTER

“To be able to give someone a piece of themselves back through an art form that I love is a gift that is difficult to describe.”

 Seeing a person look at themselves in the mirror for the first time after their tattoos are complete – whether it’s a 3D areola-nipple tattoo or a mastectomy tattoo – is such a magical moment to be part of. You can see the confidence radiate from within, it’s just beautiful. 

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We spotted you tattooing a woman’s breast at Brighton Tattoo Convention this year, which was absolutely incredible and so brave – can you tell us a bit more about this…

I tattooed a few breast cancer survivors at the Brighton Tattoo Convention this year, my ladies wanted to have their tattoos done there to help spread the word on this wonderful form of tattooing and share with the public how empowering tattooing can be. They all also wanted to help raise awareness for my breast cancer charity, the Mastectomy Tattooing Alliance, which was also at Brighton.

Both myself and the MTA will be at Brighton in February 2024, too. 

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AFTER

Amazing, we will of course be there too. So what’s next for you?

I’m hoping that next year will be a big year for Paradise. We’re moving to a larger premises in Cheltenham, which we are all really excited about. The bigger studio will allow us to expand our team and offer more of these wonderful tattoos.

I will also be launching a training academy, which has been created to help professional tattoo artists develop and advance their skills into more specialised areas of tattooing, such as areola tattooing. 

I plan to continue growing the Mastectomy Tattooing Alliance charity and raise more awareness of our cause and the positive impact of these life-changing tattoos. We recently added two artists from the US to our directory and I would love to add more artists from around the world and take our charity work global.

The Mastectomy Tattooing Alliance is a UK charity founded by Tanya in 2021. The MTA is dedicated to supporting the breast cancer community in their healing journey by making these empowering tattoos more accessible to people and striving to help improve the information and education available for this wonderful form of tattooing. Tanya is always looking to add more skilled areola tattoo artists and mastectomy tattoo artists to the MTA directory, so please do get in touch with her. You can donate via the website, www.mastectomytattooingalliance.org.

For more inspiring tattoo stories read: Tattoos to mark transformative moments.

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Tattoos to mark transformative moments

Our founder Alice Snape recently wrote a feature for HuffPost about the power of tattoos that mark transformative moments in our lives – you can read it over at huffingtonpost.co.uk.

As part of the feature, she writes about her new chest piece by Kate Mackay Gill @kate_selkie (pic in header taken by Olivia Snape) to mark her 40th birthday… and she also interviewed other tattoo collectors about the transformative reasons for getting tattooed – from taking ownership of bodies to marking the death of a loved one…

She spoke to so many people while researching the feature that sadly she couldn’t include every story, so we thought we’d share them here instead:

Nina Cresswell, 33, writer

“In 2020, I named a tattooist who violently sexually assaulted me, then he tried to sue me for defamation. But I won what became a landmark libel case in April 2023. I got this Drowning Girl by Fidjit, who’s also a survivor as a reminder that I kept my head above water for years – and survived (hence the party hat). On top of the libel case, the perpetrator reported me for malicious communication for speaking out. Feeling powerless, I wrote “I am the evidence” over and over before driving to the police station. My experiences have been painful, but quiet moments of self-love and solidarity kept me going. Believing in myself. Believing in my strength. Believing in change. Because without hope of change, survival feels impossible.”

Stephanie Harris is 36 and works in IT

“I got this tattoo by Cassandra Frances in June 2021, almost two years after my eldest sister Tanya died of cancer. I wanted a tattoo that was not only in memory of Tanya, but that also that symbolised myself and my two sisters forever intertwined – even beyond this life. This tattoo is of my blonde hair, my sister Natasha’s dark brown hair, and Tanya’s warm brown hair braided together to express our sisterly bond. The women in my family all have thick, coarse hair, and I wear a braided lock of Tanya’s hair in a reliquary necklace every day, so hair feels important and somewhat sacred to me.”

Stephanie with her sisters

Rowan Stein, she/they, 32 year old cat lady living in Edinburgh

“My tattoo is by Sophie Bellingham from Cap in Hand tattoo in Loanhead. I got it after a long term abusive relationship, my ex made a lot of comments about my appearance and I was learning to let go of his voice in my head. I had originally planned for it to be on my stomach, but my skin’s too soft and it would have warped the design so we put it on my chest. It’s been a game-changer in me seeing myself the way I want to and not how others dictate.”

Terri-Jane Dow, 36, Writer

“This script from the Freddie Mercury song The Great Pretender. Freddie Mercury died when I was really little, and my dad was heartbroken. He and I laid on the living room floor listening to records for days, so, after my dad died, it was an obvious choice for something to get tattooed. It was done by Adam at Vagabond in Hackney about six months after dad died. It’s funny that I got a tattoo for dad at all – he had tattoos that he’d lied about his age to get, and hated them. I moved home briefly when I was in my late 20s, just after I’d got a big tattoo on my leg, and I spent the whole summer sweltering in jeans so he wouldn’t find out about it. After he died, when we went to the crematorium to see him, I told him I had tattoos. If anything was going to wake him up, that would’ve been it.”

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“Tattoos are an amazing way to express our individuality,” tattoo artist, Ehyang

Tattoo artist Ehyang adores putting her art on people’s bodies. “I think it’s a proud and rewarding thing that someone likes my paintings and keeps them on their body for the rest of their lives,” she enthuses. “There‘s nothing more glorious as an artist than that.” We caught up with her to find out more…

What’s your earliest memory of tattoos? Did you always want to get tattooed?
“When I was young, I just liked getting tattoos because they looked cool… then I started to just fall in love more and more, so I thought what could be better than to make them my job?”

How long have you been tattooing for? How did you train to become a tattoo artist?
“This year marks my third year. For my sanitation education, I took theoretical classes on machines and needles After that, I practiced with a rubber board.”

How would you describe your style of tattooing?
“My style is fine line ornamental. To differentiate myself from other tattooists, I draw animals with an ornamental twist. That’s the characteristic of my tattoos. I love fine lines and decorative tattoos.”

Do you tattoo lots of tourists who’ve travelled for your work?
“Half of my guests are foreigners and some of them visit Korea just to get a tattoo from me.”

How long is your wait list? How do customers book in?
“I’m taking reservations by e-mail, I used a Korean chat app, but I think e-mail is easier. I usually tattoo one person a day.”

What are the rules for tattooing in South Korea? Is tattooing more underground or becoming more mainstream nowadays?
“I think Korea is still a little conservative about tattoos. Most young people get tattoos, and they like to get small tattoos. But I think there are more people getting tattoos than before.”

“I love that a client’s idea can take me somewhere I never thought I would go. “

What’s the best way for customers to come up with an idea for you? Do you offer flash or prefer custom work?
“Customised work is more fun. I love that a client’s idea can take me somewhere I never thought I would go. The design that I and the customer made is new and interesting…”

What is the address of your studio?
“It’s 61-1, Donggyo-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul. It’s my private studio.”

Any interesting hotels / shops / cafes nearby?
“There are many cute and pretty cafes near Mangwon-dong, Korea. There is a famous street called Mangridan-gil, and there are many cute shops there. Mangwon Market is also famous. It’s hard to walk around on weekends because there are so many people.”

Do you ever do guest spots? If so, when / where?
“I did in Singapore, Australia, Canada, and the U.S.”

What are your hopes and plans for the future?
“Now I want to settle down somewhere. I’d love that to be in America because I think I can do something fun and big with more diverse materials than in Korea. I’d love to create a unique style tattoo that only I can do…”

What do you love most about tattoos?
“Tattoos are attractive, there are so many styles and it’s fun to be able to express our individuality. And as an artist, I’m proud to be able to create my own creation with tattoos, and I don’t think there’s anything more interesting and attractive than that.”

Give Ehyang a follow on Instagram @e.hyang.tattoo.

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“Tattooing is more than a job, it’s a way to express and communicate a person’s life,” interview with tattoo artist, Inno

Tattooist Inno, who’s based in Seoul in Korea, realised that tattoos can be art when he saw a tattoo of a small, beautiful flower. That tattoo set him on a journey to becoming an artist himself. Here we catch up with him to find out more about tattooing in Korea, guest spots and what motivates and inspires him…

How long have you been tattooing for? How did you train to become a tattoo artist?

“I started learning how to tattoo in 2019. I took classes at STUDIO BY SOL, one of the most famous tattoo academies in Korea at the time. In Korea, tattoos were illegal, so there were few places that taught hygiene education and technology properly, but I chose this place because it was the best place to train.”


How would you describe your style of tattooing?

“I live near the beach, so whenever I was frustrated or couldn’t think of an idea, I used to look out at the sea – it cleared my mind, it gave me room to think. It’s what made me realise I wanted to draw pictures of the waves and the sea. And turn other objects into waves too. Water is flexible and permeates almost anything. I guess that’s how it works with my clients too, their bodies become covered in my wave style.”

Do you tattoo lots of tourists who’ve travelled for your work?

“Most of the guests who visit me in Korea are foreign tourists. They come to visit me during their trip. Customers usually contact me through email before their holiday.”



What are the rules for tattooing in South Korea? Is tattooing more underground or becoming more mainstream nowadays?

“Tattoos are illegal in Korea, you need a special medical license to practice. However, in recent years, many celebrities are getting tattoos, and they are becoming more and more popular. I think Korean tattoos will become more and more famous around the world.”

How should customers contact you? If someone is travelling over from the UK, how much notice would you need?

“Customers come from various countries, as well as England. It is enough if you tell me the picture, location, and size of the tattoo you want. Please contact us via email at inno.waves.tt@gmail.com, with dates that you will be in Seoul.”



What’s the best way for customers to come up with an idea for you? Do you offer flash or prefer custom work?

“I don’t like doing Flash because the number of copycats has been increasing recently. I don’t like my paintings to be done by anyone other than myself. Now I prefer custom work because I want to draw a special picture for only one person.”

What is the address of your studio?

“It is located in Seoul, Korea. Please contact us via email for detailed addresses.”



Any interesting hotels / shops / cafes nearby?

“The place where my studio is located is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Korea. Therefore, there are so many foreigners and it is a place where anyone can enjoy. Perhaps that’s why I think the tattoo scene has developed a lot here.”

Do you ever do guest spots? If so, when / where?

“I have been to Australia, Canada, and the United States – so far. My drawing style is unique and rare all over the world, so I want to visit lots of different countries.”

What are your hopes and plans for the future?

“I believe my paintings will develop further. I haven’t done a lot of large-scale work yet, but I want to draw bigger pieces.”

“When asked if a tattooist is an artist or a job, I would say artist.”

Inno



What do you think about the tattoo world itself?

“Tattoos are one of the most basic acts of expressing oneself. Also, I think it is very noble work that expresses and communicates each person’s life. Therefore, I hope that all artists will be more careful and work passionately in their work. This is because many people now think of it as just a job to make money. When asked if a tattooist is an artist or a job, I would say artist.”

Follow Inno on Instagram @tattooist.inno