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We’ve all seen those bad tattoos of “English names in Chinese” (spoiler alert…they’re not) or kanji characters for love, beauty, and harmony, that are, more likely than not, written incorrectly or mistranslated. Those tattoos tend to be made by artists who have no connection to Asian culture at all.
But a new wave of Asian artists are reclaiming and iterating on tattoos inspired by Asian culture, bringing more diversity into tattoo culture and designing body art that speaks directly to the members of the Asian diaspora and queer communities. Many of them happen to live in New York. They’re developing their own visual languages, and using their tattoo practices to engage in community building and support healing from trauma.
“I think the amount of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) artists, especially queer or generally non-cis males, discovering this world of creation is incredible,” artist Gabrielle Widjaja says. “I think it’s incredibly meaningful that there are people like me who can give and get tattoos from others we can identify with. It is also extremely empowering to see others also proudly tattooing things inspired by their cultures instead of seeing [non-Asian artists] taking these motifs they actually have little true understanding of.”
Here, meet six artists who are experimenting with tattoo styles while crushing old stereotypes about Asian culture. Their body art is fresh, innovative, poignant, cute, beautiful, and above all, cool. (No more badly-done 愛 tattoos, please.)
@gentle.oriental (Gabrielle Widjaja)
Gabrielle Widjaja, a graphic designer and illustrator of Chinese and Indonesian descent, and a cofounder of queer AAPI-run studio Long Time Tattoo, created their style from the visual language of Chinese cultural artifacts. They incorporate pattern work from objects like porcelain and traditional motifs such as peonies, as well as concepts such as “floating, disintegrating, solitude,” and gestural elements like clouds, wind, smoke, and water. Many of their designs feature Asian women and Asian bodies.
Widjaja offers their flash pieces only once, so each tattoo is one of a kind. Their personal experience getting tattooed has informed their approach and philosophy. “My Japanese traditional tattoo was done by a white man, and I’ll always remember that differently than if I had gotten it from a Japanese American artist who was on a journey to learn their own ancestral craft,” they say. “I want people to get that kind of intimate experience from getting a tattoo with me.”
@baby.phag (Ocean)
Ocean Gao, an independent tattoo artist, believes in the power of tattoos to bring their customers closer to the people they imagine themselves to be, and to bear witness to complex histories of diasporic experience and queer kinship.
“Tattoos are a declaration,” they say, “and they are also healing, protection, and remembrance.”
Gao’s designs incorporate line work and shading for ultradetailed pieces. Some of their hyperrealistic designs are recreations of family photos, influential film stills, or inspired by the iconic Chinese photographer, Ren Hang. They also create tattoos based on symbols and figures from folk religions and mythology, such as komainu (guardian lion-dogs) and Nezha (a powerful deity with a lot of adventure stories). In the near future, they plan to tattoo their new flash pieces on just two different bodies. There’s an element of mystery and kismet to that approach: “Maybe you will meet one day,” they muse.
@ouch.tattoos (Dayi)
“A unique tattoo should be sticky,” shares Dayi Novas, a second-generation Chinese American who began tattooing from her couch after quitting her design job. She currently has her own private studio in Ridgewood. “I want viewers to think about a piece even after they’ve scrolled past it.” In addition to being inspired by Chinese ink brushstrokes, florals, and organic movements such as smoke rising, Dayi (who prefers to be referred to by her first name only) delights in beauty for the sake of beauty—consciously opposing what she learned as a student at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. “Making art for the sake of beauty is considered shallow in fine art school,” she says. “Making representative art for the sake of beauty even worse! It doesn’t represent some pain or societal trauma? Absurd!”
Dayi appreciates the freedom of making a tattoos for the simple purpose of looking pretty. Her wish list for future designs? “Machines, scorpions, more hearts, guns, bok choy.”
@low.original (Low)
Low, or Woocheol Choung, began working as a tattoo artist in Seoul and is currently part of Blindreason Tattoo NYC. His style mixes black letter tattoos with calligraphy design and the Korean alphabet, which was an opportunity for him to experiment with design methods and spread knowledge about Korean culture. “One of the most meaningful parts of my job is being able to design for clients from all walks of life,” he says.
His tattoos are bold and dark, capturing a beautiful sense of flow. Low emphasizes the “impactful and definitive” look of a finished tattoo, and has been expanding his practice to incorporate Japanese characters and traditional Chinese characters, other global languages, and abstract calligraphy-inspired pieces.
@hotbirdbath (之)
Zi (之) Lu, an artist of Han/Hakka descent who works out of a private studio, creates designs which incorporate line work and black and red colors. They are inspired by Chinese and East/Southeast Asian folk art, such as traditional woodcut prints, mystical animals, and folk deities. Their tattoos can involve fantastical and surreal interpretations, such as a hanbok (a type of Korean traditional dress) dreaming. “Most of my clients are queer, trans, and of different diasporic roots,” they say. They work out of a private studio, and their tattoo practice centers body art as a therapeutic medium. “[My clients] access a different or new bodily autonomy, relieve some dysphoric or dysmorphic feelings, and connect with ancestral roots.”
@minnnliuuu (Min Liu)
Min Liu is an independent queer Taiwanese tattoo artist who draws on her background in animation and interest in the Suprematist art movement to create abstract and geometric tattoos. Some of her designs are conceptual interpretations of Chinese typography. She wants her tattoos to look like they were “born” on the client. “It’s important to me that the tattoo sits perfectly on that part of the body,” she says. She works closely with each client to create custom pieces, and appreciates the contrast between designing digitally-inspired tattoos on “the oldest analog format, the human skin.”
Wish list pieces? Liu is excited to work on larger pieces of Chinese typography, such as full sentences written out in Chinese characters or a full backpiece.
