First of all, if you can just introduce yourself and just tell us a little bit about what you do?
My name is Indré. I am a multidisciplinary artist, currently being a professional nomad in Europe. I know that you do both tattooing and traditional fine art as well. What came first for you? Was it art or tattooing? In the school days my background was classical music and fine art. Both were taught in very traditional and strict manners. Those years taught me some valuable skills in craftsmanship and discipline towards work but my personality was too rebellious for the classical world. Tattooing came to my life very organically but later on.As well as tattooing, we’ve seen you curate art exhibitions. How do you find blending both of these worlds together?
I am friends with many tattooers who are practitioners of other art forms. The idea of organising an exhibition showcasing our work in one space came pretty naturally. I had a good opportunity to use a space for free and urged to show works to a wider audience in person. Et voila. When it comes to being involved in the art scene, I’m not as involved as I’d like to be. I did curate and organise one exhibition, and hopefully in the future I will do more.
How important do you think creating these non-stereotypical physical touch points in the tattoo industry is going to be? Do you feel it’s an important step that the industry should be taking?
I don’t want to talk for the industry, but when I curated the exhibition, I definitely saw that there’s a big community of people that wants this; from people that I invited to be part of it and those that came to see it. Tattooing brought so many wonderful people in my life so it’s a beautiful thing to create these kind of exhibitions to bring everyone together in the same room. Seeing how our work engages with each other in a space instead of on human bodies we tattoo.
When I came down to get a tattooed by you, you spoke a little bit about your design process, when designing some of the more abstract elements of your art. Could you just talk a little bit about that process?
I have a big catalog of scanned ink marks that are made using whatever I found around me while drawing ( such as objects from nature, strings, napkins, etc). For those elements I tend to use tools that are much harder to control than a painting brush. Most of my tattoo compositions and some flashes are made using those marks in a collage way. Sometimes I make loads of different marks and then I carry that same sketchbook everywhere with me for days to add elements to make some marks slightly less abstract and turn into something more figurative. Sometimes I just leave them the way they are and when the session comes, I let people choose to find what shapes talk to them. Similar way to the Rorschach test, you might say.
During these tattoo sessions, in your opinion, what’s the most important part of as an artist, or even as a client? What are you really wanting people to take away from the tattoo experience?
I see tattooing as a ritual. It’s an exchange of energies between two people. The tattoo in itself is an evidence of that exchange but it carries much more magic that is felt rather than seen. As a tattooer, I need to make sure I don’t damage the trust of the person who choses me to mark their skin. In this profession you have to care about people, be patient and listen. I wish that everyone that comes to me will leave the session feeling fondly about the experience and improved in their vision of their body.
In that similar vein, what has been one of the most meaningful tattoo projects so far for you?
Oh, that’s a really hard question to answer. It’s already a mind blowing idea that someone wants you put something on their body forever., It’s more about the trust that someone gives you for that very meaningful moment or memory. Every project is unique, you know, it has a different weight of importance to and unique meaning.
We like to think of your tattoos as visceral and emotive, and were curious to know if there’s ever any kind of hidden meanings behind some of the designs?
My tattoos are very open and there’s so much space for anyone to see what they want individually. I try to treat the viewer as an intellectual person. I don’t want to explain too much of what it is because I believe that people have their own right to decide what they want to see in it. Again, the Rorschauch test. My drawings cary the energy of my internal world, vulnerability , the melancholia. They cary the energy that attracts some and scares the others. The ones that resonates with it, comes forward. What I do is really not for everyone and I am proud of it.
How do you see tattoo culture evolving in the next few years?
Because of the current economic situation in recent years, more and more tattoo shops are closing down and people are opening their private shops. I absolutely love guesting in many different places and meeting new crews all over Europe. Each shop has a unique collective energy and feeling of community. These are the places where I get inspiration from. I hope the future of tattooing won’t turn into a purely individualistic practice and there still will be a strong sense of collectives as it was in the past.
Finally, If you could give any word of advice to any aspiring artist, both tattoo artists and fine artists, what would you give them?
Hard work, determination to your craft and research. Stop caring too much about social media and engage with reality. Artists need to be aware of the world around us in order to make it better.
