Tattoo
your name across my heart/So it will remain.... Not even death can make us
part – Beyonce (“Sweet Dreams”)
Although tattoos have been a global, cultural phenomenon for thousands of years, with their significance varying from amulets, punishment, and status symbols amongst different cultures worldwide, modern tattoos in the United States of America weren’t popularized within pop culture until the 1950s – a time known as “The Tattoo Renaissance”. During this time, tattoos were recognized as an individual art form and were typified by “avant-garde tattooing” – consisting of Japanese, tribal, and fineline art, all inspired by ethnic subcultures (Japanese, Polynesian, and Latinx respectively).
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| Polynesian-style tattoo |
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| Japanese-style tattoo |
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| Latinx-inspired tattoo |
However, while tattoos were popularized during this time, it wasn’t until the women’s liberation movement of the 60s and 70s when, with a wider client base to tattoo, the style shifted and moved away from traditional subjects and clients. Tattoos starting veering towards “feminine designs,” such as floral and mystical imagery and many were inspired by celebrities’ personal tattoos, such as Janis Joplin’s Florentine wrist tattoo.
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| Janis Joplin |
According to a recent 2015 study,
about 29% of Americans have at least one tattoo and the styles of tattoos have
evolved based on two types of groups. While there are the traditionalists, who
tattoo based on pre-made designs found on the walls of their tattoo shops,
tattoos have started opening up towards artistic freedom and a collaborative
effort between the client’s ideal vision and the artist’s execution.
Enter: Rita Zolutukhina, a 25-year-old
Ukrainian tattoo artist known as “Rit Kit”. Although she started off with a Bachelor’s
in architecture, Zolotukhina has taken many different art courses throughout
her career to help inspire her current line of work as a tattoo artist. While the
current popular styles of tattoos are watercolor or nontraditional dotwork,
Zolotukhina manageed to create a new style of nontraditional tattoo completely
her own.
As long as she has been a tattoo
artist, she has created nature-based tattoos. However, realizing that she was
unsatisfied with the creation of her tattoos and wanted them to be more
true-to-life, Zolutukhina created “botanical fingerprint” tattoos. In order to
create these tattoos, she first dips flowers and leaves in stencil ink, presses
them onto the client’s body, and then proceeds to directly tattoo the rest of
the design. Even though stencil ink is a typical step in creating tattoos, she
cuts out the actual drawing and design step of tattooing. Her experimentation has
led to her ability to create what is known as the “live leaf tattoo.” These
tattoos allow for clients to know with full certainty that their tattoos are
uniquely done. Each flower and leaf placed is unique to them and each delicate
detail of nature is captured directly onto the skin.
Similarly to many big-C creatives,
Zolotukhina is also aware that, like the artistry of tattoos, her style will
eventually evolve and change. One day, she could lose her love of nature and be
tattooing other subjects or be inspired by something besides nature. In the
meantime, she attempts to constantly develop her skills by varying the plants used
or travelling to different countries around the world to challenge herself and
utilize local botany. Furthermore, based on Csikszentmihaly’s idea of flow
and the setting of challenges to create the optimal performance levels,
Zolotukhina exemplifies this with her consistent push towards traveling, discovering
new styles of tattooing, and allowing it to affect her attitude towards her
personal style, knowing that she pushes herself towards adaptation and
evolution. Much like the “live leaf” tattoos she is creating, her artistry has
made a permanent mark that will continue to grow.
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Thank you so much for posting this! I think what makes Ms. Zolutukhina's art especially beautiful is that it's impossible to forget about the process involved in creating the final project--the life of a plant, the patience of the tattoo artist, and the endurance of the person serving as canvas are all integral to the process and the art. I now want to get a tattoo by her!!
ReplyDeleteIn the tattoo industry, many artists who dare to develop their own unique style of tattooing are often shunned by more experienced and more traditional artists. This is why some tattoo styles, like American traditional remain so popular and timeless. This is somewhat ironic since tattooing is such a great form of creative expression. Zolotukhina's style of tattooing is something I have never seen before. I think that it is great that she continues to express herself through her art. Though, I wonder what her colleagues think of her unique work.
ReplyDeleteI love that she pulls her inspiration from nature. She blends a form of art centered around man and connects it to the world around us. However, I would argue that she knew might be a small c creative, as I think other designs could come along that may overshadow this one. I think this I definitely a big step in tattoo art but it does not necessary shift a paradigm.
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