Liquid Fetish

ART. BEAUTY. INK. For the commitment of a lifetime...it's time to take it serious.

Soulstice Studios Tattoo The Loft Tattoo Studio Tattoo & Piercing Shop Art Gallery Performance & Event Venue

Liquid Fetish represents a new awareness towards how we should now perceive the art of the tattoo. It aims to educate and inspire a new level of consciousness towards the union of art and beauty, and how we as collectors can permanently embrace our beauty through the art we choose. As an artist and painter, I am so intrigued at the notion of a living canvas that has a voice understood in any language, any culture, and any demographic. I continue to be blown away at the continual progression of what type and quality of imagery is being achieved on skin. Literally all over the world - but what seems especially apparent overseas - is the emergence of professional fine artists who have discovered this new medium. I firmly believe that we as artists and collectors are living in a movement that will soon be part of art history. Skin as canvas has inevitably forced its way into the consciousness of fine visual arts, and soon will be a recognized, respected, and sought after new form of Fine Art. Today’s precision tools and equipment, combined with the improved pigments and the palette of colours available has opened the doors and minds to artists worldwide. With the level of skin art reaching new heights, comes a new standard of quality. Now so much more focus and consideration must be given to the composition of the artwork, the smoothness of tonal blends, the complimentary relationship of colours, the placement in relation to the contours and curves of the body and the motion it creates, and the use of untouched skin with that which is inked. The sky’s the limit as to what a collector desires to carry on their body. There are many different styles of tattoos today, as there always will be and should be. I don’t want to ignore the importance of tradition, and the timeless attraction to the traditional imagery of tattoos. There is an enormous and rich history within tattoo culture that is rooted in so many different cultures and ethnicities, each symbolizing very different meanings and woven into the fabric of their heritage. I believe it is equally important to preserve such styles, as well as the more recent illustrative, abstract, and outright ridiculous that give passage to being able to laugh at life and embrace our idiosyncrasies. So though I see a new direction of interest towards realism and classical art on skin, I don’t see it as a separation from traditional and illustrative styles. It is my hope that we all as artists can appreciate and learn from one another’s strengths and styles, and work together alongside one another for the common good of this new and exciting movement. As artists I believe it is also ultimately our responsibility to educate our subjects. We owe it to those who are willing to carry our art for life to help them understand the possibilities and limitations, the difference between a well-executed tattoo and those that are not, the maintenance involved to care and preserve ones art, how to choose the right artist, as well as to provide them with an experience, not just a service. I feel they should be treated with respect, appreciation, and patience. The experience should be memorable, and they should always be given 100% of our attention and ability when it is their time. The extreme popularity of tattoo imagery and culture has found its way into almost every corner of mainstream culture, both commercial and fashion industry, and is appealing to practically every demographic. This is ultimately good for the tattoo community, but like anything that grows so fast, it has its downfalls. Particularly with the oversaturation of unqualified, unsanitary, and flat out untalented so called artists that use unknowing people as practice boards. It is outright careless, selfish, not to mention the stain it puts on the industry as a whole. People are being scared, physically and emotionally, left feeling self-conscious and full of regret. Not only is this a travesty, it is morally and ethically wrong. As artists, all we can do is educate and beautify one canvas at a time.