NYC Tattoo Convention Spotlight: Chris Shares His Half-Sleeve Inspired by the Indigenous Cultures of the Pacific Northwest

For this, my final post highlighting work I enjoyed at the New York City Tattoo Convention last Saturday, we turn to Chris, who offered up this half-sleeve from his right arm:

Chris explained that he is a great admirer of Native American art and that, after a trip to a museum in British Columbia, he was inspired by a First Nations exhibit. He purchased a book about the exhibits there and he used several photos as source material to collaborate with his tattoo artist.

On complicated pieces, I always think it's best to hear the explanation in the host's own words, so here's what Chris had to say:

"The symbol in the center is a moon symbol, which is usually reserved for higher-ranking members of the tribe. Then you got two wolves on either side as spirit guides. [The outer section] is called Sisiutl:

it’s the two-headed serpent [who] protects you from evil and will eat the flesh of your enemies ... the Sisiutl is actually a perfectly round symbol and then the artist spread it out and free-handed this middle section to make it all work

On the inside of his arm is this piece:

"This is a simple salmon ... which is a symbol of prosperous fishing and hunting.

Hopefully, this [the whole tattoo, still in progress] will be protection and a lot of good coming to me with the way it’s designed.

A lot of the tribes over there have symbols that are crossing over from each other. This is a little bit of Tlingit and a little bit of Haida. Pretty much those are the two main focuses where it comes from."

This exceptional work is by Leo Fieschi at Art Club Tattoo & Piercing in New Milford, Connecticut.

Thanks to Chris for sharing it and taking the time at the convention to explain it for us here at Tattoosday!

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Kristina's Labyrinthine Symbol of Hopi

A few weeks back, I met Kristina, after spotting the top of her tattoo peeking out from under her shirt and reaching toward her neck.

I was intrigued and asked her about it. She revealed it to be a much larger piece than I initially observed and explained that it is a Hopi symbol of mother-daughter unity that accompanies her on her spiritual journey through life.

From what I can gather, this is a variation on the symbol for Tapu'a, or Mother Earth, and the maze-like construction of the emblem represents one's journey through life.

She had this inked at a shop in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

Thanks to Kristina for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Karen's Ink Balances the Physical and the Intellectual

Monday was a good tattoo day. I met Karen on Sixth Avenue in the 20's after her right ankle caught my attention and we chatted for a bit about tattoos.

The piece above is about 10 years old and is based on Northwestern Native American art. Karen studied art history in college and felt that this style of art is "smarter" and speaks in "more intelligent visual dialects" than other art forms.

This tattoo is based on "the dance of the wolf hunter". The following piece is similar in design.
It represents the physical aspect of her self.

Around 10 years ago, Karen finished college and drove up to Valdez, Alaska. She had no immediate purpose to go there, but she was just exploring, seeing that part of the country.

It was there, in a town so small that the grocery store often ran out of bread, that she found an amazing tattoo artist working out of a place called, appropriately, Valdez Tattoo. She didn't remember the artist but could recall that he was Hawaiian, which struck her as remarkable.

A quick call to the number listed on the net for Valdez Tattoo was a wrong number and the person who answered the phone wasn't aware of any tattoo shop nearby. So finding a link met with a dead end.

On the other hand foot, the physical aspect of the wolf tattoo seems, in her opinion, to balance the intellectual qualities of her other tattoo (on her left foot), which was inked somewhere in Chicago over 10 years ago.
Karen explains that the moon represents the feminine, and that the symbol within the moon is the astrological sign for Jupiter, which stands for knowledge and expansion of the mind.

Thanks to Karen for sharing her ink with us here on Tattoosday!