Young And Cool Names In Singapore's Tattoo Scene You Need To Know
These tattoo artists are making their mark with designs that revolve around themes of mental health to that of self-acceptance.
Tattoos may have been around for 5,000 years but they're getting a bit more air time in the worlds of pop culture (hey, even the women from The Real Housewives of New York are doing it) and fashion lately.
In the first episode of the Gossip Girl reboot, protagonist Julien Calloway namedropped celebrity tattoo artist Dr. Woo as the man behind the discreet ink drawing of two circles on the nape of her neck.
Coincidentally, the in-demand Los Angeles tattooist who is known for his single-needle designs also made headlines recently for turning his work into decorative prints for Sacai's design outing with Jean Paul Gaultier during the recent haute couture season.
READ MORE: This Jagua Tattoo Artist Is Dreaming Up Greek Mythologies, But With Makeup
While not all tattoo artists have achieved the million-strong following a la Dr. Woo here in Singapore, the trade is definitely booming judging from social media following and an injection of fresh young blood keen to make a mark with different techniques like blackwork or Realism-inflected art.
In fact, we’ve observed more and more tattoo apprenticeships taking place in Singapore. Tattoo parlours such as Wild Paw Tattoo Co, Atypical Room, Vagabond Ink and Tattoo World Sg have at least one young tattoo apprentice under their wing, with Tattoo World SG having as many as four.
The work of LA celebrity tattoo artist adorned the designs – and inspired the makeup – of Sacai's couture outing with Gaultier Paris in July.
Emelyn Ashley Chang, who practices at Tooth & Nail, agrees that more young people are taking to the field. She estimates that the pool of tattoo artists has at least doubled or tripled since she started tattooing five years ago.
“There’s definitely been an insurgence of budding artists since I’ve started,” agrees independent tattoo artist Ashley Seow. “This is partly due to the amount of information on tattooing and techniques like hand-poking that’s published online, making the craft a lot more accessible to the masses.”
READ NEXT: You Can Already Cop Items From The Sacai X Jean Paul Gaultier Show
On why tattoo making is such an appealing craft today, Seow says: “Tattoos are a great form of self-expression. As an artist, you’re always able to explore different styles and elements in your work, and it’s exciting when a client comes in with an idea that you would’ve never thought of and it pushes your boundaries.”
In the story ahead, we get to know four young women and learn how they are putting their own stamp on the trade.
Who: Currently a tattoo artist at Wild Paw Tattoo Co and has been practising the art for the past six years.
Why go into the field: “I’ve always liked art but couldn’t commit to the idea of painting for the rest of my life as a job. However, I still admire those that are doing it. I also watched a lot of music videos growing up and really like how tattoos looked on the musicians. I did watch the TV series Miami Ink quite religiously too.”
Where she picked up the craft: “My mentor is Julian Chia from Wild Paw Tattoo Co, who has also become one of my close friends (or so I’d like to think, haha).”
Her signature style: “Clean, bold and fine lines. I’m biased towards bold lines just because it holds better over time.”
What makes her designs special: “My pre-drawn flashes are rather personal and I’ve always been very open about them. Then again, I do draw and write silly random things that aren’t that deep − like a carrot pointing a middle finger.”
The work she’s most proud of and why: “This was my first time drawing/tattooing a pet hamster and I’m trying not to praise myself but I thought it came out rather cute. The details are clear enough where I don’t worry about the lines being too close and merging into a blob over time. For a tattoo to age well is important, at least to me and most artists.”
Her most challenging design: “I wouldn’t say this was crazy challenging but I remember feeling a little stressed out because it was a cover-up and I don’t do it often. I'm completely open to doing more tattoos in this style though!”
Where to find her: Wild Paw Tattoo Co, 30A Bali Lane
Price: $200 to $350
Who: A tattoo artist at Tooth & Nail who started out with an apprenticeship at Tattoo World Sg in 2016. She has been tattooing for the last five years.
Why go into the field: “Honestly, I was just at a bad point in my life, and had just withdrawn from the National University of Singapore. I picked up tattooing as I had a strong interest (have to admit I thought it was cool too), and here I am five years later.”
Where she picked up the craft: “I learned tattooing from the studio I first joined but learning how to draw was mostly self-taught, by watching videos, experimenting, advice from fellow colleagues and a lot of practice over the years.”
Her signature style: “Abstract, minimal and strange, with a pop of colour.”
What makes her designs special: “I customise most (if not all) of my designs, and once tattooed I do not repeat the design as I like to keep each design and experience unique to each client.”
The work she is most proud of and why: “Part of what makes me fulfilled are tattoos that promote self-acceptance and help give my clients closure in what they are going through. For the cats tattoo (pictured), it was a symbolism for my client's family (the black cats) hugging her mom (the blue cat in the middle) who was going through a terminal illness. It’s an experience I related strongly to as well.”
Her most challenging design: “That would be anything symmetrical, to be honest. Like the one pictured here – the client wanted 'same same but not really' designs around her shoulders. It was really challenging to make sure they were of equal height as our bodies are not symmetrical naturally.”
Where to find her: Tooth & Nail, 30a Kandahar Street
Price: From $150
Who: This tattoo artist, who is known professionally by just one name, practises at Wild Paw Tattoo Co and has been in the business for just over two years.
Why go into the field: “To be honest, I never meant to. It’s a weird chain of events that brought me to where I am today. I worked as a graphic designer in advertising agencies for about three years and had just left my last company to look for another job. It was during that wait that I decided to do something fun as a distraction and started handpoking my friends.
I created my Instagram account just to document the artwork I was doing, but I guess the Instagram gods smiled on me and my account blew up (it has more than 33,000 followers as of press time). I stayed on, started tattooing my first few strangers, and realized this was what I had been looking for.
The creative freedom to do work that I actually enjoy to its core: no KPI to hit, no corporate budgets, no corporate clients. The fact that people love what they see is a very nice boon.”
Where she picked up the craft: “I picked it up on my own, tattooing only myself and close friends as a fun thing to do in exchange for food and drink. I’ve come a long way since then; it hits me every once in a while that I’m making actual money off something that started as a casual fun thing to do while I job-hunted.”
Her signature style: “I get this question a lot and always find it a little bit hard to answer. I’m still working on it, to refine and experiment with new techniques, new subject matter and more.
It’s not quite answering the question but I’ve had people say they appreciate the simplicity of my art style, with subtle touches that render the work a ‘soft kind of magic’, in reference to the natural world we are surrounded by.”
What makes her designs special: “My work has a bit of a range of subjects, from the esoteric to the mundane, but if I have to put it in words I’ll say it’s a feeling, a sense of magic in the mundane I try to capture in the work I put out. Or maybe people just like fancy hands. Who knows?”
The work she is most proud of and why: “I’ve been doing this series of work called ‘Forbidden Fruit’ for a while. It's by far my most requested work in its many variants, but I do have a favourite one (pictured) where I worked with colour for the first time for the apple bit. I think I did a pretty good job! I’ve done more fruits in colour since then, which is awesome.”
Her most challenging design: “This piece is actually a small part of a larger painting named Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel. Synthesising the right feel and vibe of the original artwork and my personal style was a little bit tricky. Getting the intense stare-down and the wild flow of his hair right was important for it to remain recognisable so there ended up being a lot of fine detail in a rather small space. I really enjoyed tattooing this piece.”
Where to find her: Wildpaw Tattoo Co, 30a Bali Lane
Price: $250 to $600
Who: She's an independent tattoo artist who has been in the trade for about one and a half years.
Why go into the field: “I actually never set out to become a tattoo artist. I was supposed to do my Masters degree in Sociology in London at the end of last year but due to the pandemic, I had to defer my enrollment. I was tattooing mostly for fun, it was never a full-time thing for me until about a year ago! I started getting more enquiries and I decided to take it on as my main job. I've always been drawn to tattooing and the concept of collecting wearable art. It's always heartwarming whenever clients text me months later and tell me that it's their favourite thing on their body.”
Where she picked up the craft: “I'm entirely self-taught; I've never done a tattoo apprenticeship – which is something I always make clear to any potential clients. I learnt about the basic techniques of hand-poking mainly from doing it on myself and lurking on Reddit forums and I learnt about the rest of the tattoo process (such as hygiene and tools) both from research online and the advice of other tattoo artist friends From there on out, it's just been a lot of practice to get to where I am right now.”
Her signature style: “I would describe my style as weirdly endearing. When I started doodling at the very start, it just was a way of expressing myself. Even now, I think most of my work revolves around similar themes of mental health and internal conflicts presented in a quirky, tongue-in-cheek and self-deprecating manner. My style is honestly an accumulation of all my coping mechanisms.”
What makes her designs special: “I guess the lighthearted and playful nature of my designs make them a bit more approachable. I never take myself too seriously, and I think that definitely translates into my designs as well. I've always appreciated surrealism as an art movement and I guess that's where I draw a lot of my inspiration from.”
The work she is most proud of and why: “Probably this little demon shopping for wine (pictured). I'm proud of it mainly because I can see how much more confident I am with incorporating details such as the bag and shoes into my work.”
Her most challenging design: “I would say this piece would be one of the more challenging ones – it was a coverup of a small Chinese word and it was the first time I was experimenting with such heavy black. It was fairly big as well, about 10 to 11cm in length which is a lot bigger than what I'm normally used to! Overall it was a really fun piece to work on, and it allowed me to be more comfortable with incorporating blacks into my work.”
Where to find her: Golden Mile Complex, 5001 Beach Road
Price: $150 to $450