[ WEEKEND ]
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Tattoo artist Tim Goodrich, of Gunpoint Tattoo in Kailua, didn't want the art show to be a contest because of the tattooists' close-knit relationship.
Tattoo art
comes full circle
It'll be like getting a real tattoo -- only without the endorphin rush of needle to skin.
Over recent years, tattooing has gotten more mainstream as an acceptable means of body decoration and adornment. We're mostly talking small, single designs anywhere from head to toe, nothing too showy or, God forbid, too embarrassing to have part of you for years to come.
'Flash Festival'
Tattoo art showing
Where: Wave Waikiki, 1877 Kalakaua Ave.
When: 8 p.m. Sunday
Admission: $5, 21 and over; $10, 18-20
Call: 351-5956
But for longtime aficionados of the former lowbrow artform, there's still something to be proud about those gaudier designs that can cover large portions of the body, the creation of bold statements that reflect on both the tattoo artist and its wearer.
And as the body is regarded as the tattooist's canvas, the art can also be expressed with pen, paint and paper.
Some of the more tattoo-inspired artwork will be both on sale and on display at Sunday evening's "gallery" at the Wave Waikiki. According to organizer
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Tattoo artist Mike Ledger has his large acrylic art piece titled “Buddha Tanga” (behind Ledger) in his Kakaako shop.
Jeanette Mawae, there will also be a small competition for those "proud of your tat," in return for a little cash money.
But that's as far as the competition will go. "I didn't want to do the art exhibit as a contest," said Gunpoint Tattoo shop owner Tim Goodrich, "because we're too close to the other tattooists around the island."
His Kailua shop's main contributor to the "Flash Festival" will be Yoshi (aka Yoseph Middleton), who does his work part of the year in Japan.
"His is pretty much a lot of Eastern imagery -- he's heavily into Japan body suits (all-over tattoos) -- plus some Vargas-style pinups, all quarter-sleeve or chest panels," said Goodrich. "Some will be just for exhibition, some for sale.
"I think it's tough for tattooists to do art outside of their work," he admitted. "I mean, when you paint and draw on a piece of paper, how could it not end up looking like a tattoo? You could try expressing yourself in a couple of mediums, but it all comes full circle."
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Tattoos may be found only on people's bodies, but now you can get your own tattoo-inspired artwork without the pain of the needle. Tim Goodrich's "100 Views of Mt. Fuji" is done on an illustration board using watercolors.
Gunpoint Tattoo will celebrate its third anniversary at the end of the month and Goodrich has said that, when it comes to the art and the business, he's seen the bar steadily rising over the 10 years he's been a tattooist.
"The clientele is getting more mainstream -- a lot of nurses and doctors, especially in our location here on the east side," he said. "But the military never get tired of getting tattoo upon tattoo."
While Goodrich considers his business "an old-fashioned street shop" -- albeit covering a thousand square feet with seven tattoo artists on staff to satisfy the steady walk-in business traffic of locals, collectors and military personnel -- a guy like Mike Ledger is happy with his smaller and unassuming-looking shop on Auahi Street in town.
STOPPING IN Monday while a customer was watching Ledger's work on a nearby TV monitor, his large, Japanese-styled koi tattoo on his back starting to be filled in with color, Ledger himself has already made a reputation as one of the best after only several years in Hawaii.
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Tim Goodrich's Kailua shop's main contributor to the "Flash Festival" will be Yoshi (aka Yoseph Middleton). Yoshi's work has a lot of Eastern imagery, like his watercolor above.
After a couple of years as an employee at a Waikiki shop, Ledger broke away and started his own appointment-only business in February. He says he's booked for two-to-three months in advance.
"I've made my name for my body suits, whether they're back pieces or full suits." He's had both overseas and local customers, and the 30-year-old New York native himself has traveled through Japan and Europe since 1991 -- although, with his local-born wife expecting and with his own shop to run, his traveling days may well be numbered.
"I'll probably choose among seven pieces I have here on display," Ledger said, "but I don't want to sell them.
"I rather do commissioned work. I like to give back what I learned in the trade and help keep the Japanese and Polynesian traditions alive. My large scale work is like a stylized version of the old. There are also Tibetan Chinese and Hindu influences in my art," as evident in one large tapestry that hangs in his shop.
"The periods of painting comes in spurts -- sometimes I can paint for two months straight. I like the freedom that the paintings provide. It's something I can use for the tattooing and vice-versa.
"Tattooing is all about choosing what you want to put on yourself, and the pain and commitment involved is part of the artform.
"My grandfather from Coney Island was fully tattooed, my father was an illustrator and cartoonist and my mother was in fine arts, so my tattooing just became another means of expression.
"Since the late 1980s, I've seen a lot of changes -- from the classic Americana, Sailor Jerry-influenced work (Jerry Collins was a legendary tattooist who worked out of China Seas Tattoo in Chinatown) to fantasy art to tribal to Japanese and even back to the old designs. The fads come and go.
"Where there was a tattoo convention once a year with upwards of 50 artists showing up, now there's like five conventions a month around the world with as many as 150 at every one of them, plus an explosion of tattoo magazines."
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Tattoo artist Jesse Parrin of Sharky's Tattoo in Chinatown works on tracing a stencil from a sketch he did for a client.
TATTOO DESIGNS can also be found on skateboard decks, which will also be on display at the Wave Sunday night. It's a long way from the scripted names and gang symbols Jesse Parrin of Sharky's Tattoo did back in California. Like Goodrich and Ledger, Parrin wants to downplay any perceived competition between the other tattooists in town.
"I'd like to see more innovative designs coming out of Hawaii," he said. "I think we're 10 years behind everyone else. So much of what we do nowadays are like little souvenirs, pumping in and pumping out customers as fast as we can. During the '40s and '50s, many of the innovators worked out of here, including Sailor Jerry.
"This location has a lot of tradition," referring to the shop's Nuuanu Avenue location he shares with owner Mark Claunch. "We get people like merchant marines and tugboat operators who give us the needed time to work on larger projects.
"Tattooing is a combination of graphic and expressionistic art," said Parrin. "Even though we're forced to do what the customer wants, there's still room for self-expression."
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