On Tattooing / 2026.02.18

I frequently get asked about my tattoos, especially my heavy blackwork (or as I like to call it, kritzel kratzel), as that style of ink still seems to be considered on the extreme side of tattooing, despite body modifications being accepted more than ever. Funnily enough, I am not a fan of more traditional tattoo styles.

 

With the explosion of the tattoo industry in the past 20ish years, there has been an influx of extremely corny work done by the most out of touch elitist artist that scoff at anything not done by a millennial at an overpriced American traditional shop located in the gentrified part of town. To me, this is antithesis of what I like about body modification. My views on this were shaped largely (but not exclusively) by the legendary German artist Little Swastika/Lily Lu. (Check out this documentary if you are interested in learning more about the guy. I find it to be a good introduction to him and his philosophy.) *note he is a very extreme [INSANE] person and I do  not personally agree with some of his views but I very much  admire his artwork and impact on tattooing as a whole.

 

Regardless, to me tattooing is ritualistic and is as much about the experience as it is getting art on your body. All of my favorite pieces I have were done rather by myself in my house or in the forest by old friends in a ritualistic setting. I will most likely be getting tattooed until I die. I don't have an end goal, I don't have any sort of long term plan for how I want to look in 20 years. All I can say is I enjoy the process of changing my body to reflect how I feel emotionally. Although I can't say why I enjoy it. It is almost a compulsion. I've always been drawn towards body modification, as a child in elementary school I remember looking through Ripley's Believe It or Not and Guinness Book of World Records books and being fascinated by the heavily modified people in them. 

 

Perhaps this sheds some light on the matter, because as stated before it is by far what I get asked about the most.