Green Prophet applauds libraries-without-walls and mosques-minus-minarets for their minimalist environmental impact. Does it follow then that we view the tattooed or henna’ed body as the most earth-friendly art gallery?
Check out these striking tattoos from Japanese artist Kenji Alucky that combine elements of fractal art and tribal tattoos into gorgeous graphics that, if I could control my instinctive cringing, would be the sort of architectural body art I might be tempted to try.
Alucky, master of black ink tattooing, hails from Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido. He’ll be working his needles at New York City’s tatt emporium New York Adorned through November 20th.
Author disclosure: I have no tattoos, for no other reason than I am needle-averse. I think it’s laughable that they are considered an act of protest against cultural or social repression, or a marker of bravery. Believe it or not, most folks have tattoos and piercings and chemically colored hair not for any deep sociological reason, but simply because they like the way it looks.
My theory was tested last week at Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp when a tiny girl showed off her prettily painted hand. Her house is a sand-covered tent. Her school is often closed for security precautions. But her nails were coated in weeks-old varnish and her wrists wore a faded henna tattoo.
Portable beauty is a thing to behold.
Images of black ink tattoos from Kenji Alucky; Maram’s hand by the author
