When did you originally decide to pursue tattooing as a career, and how did you develop into the artist you are today?
I started tattooing in 2011, while I was studying in Russia. My friend brought over his tattoo equipment and asked me to finish this piece he had done. So, I just tried and it was a long journey of discovering a new world. A year ago, I started doing my graffiti faces. Before the Philadelphia Tattoo Convention, which is the biggest tattoo show on the East Coast, I needed to create something new that had never been done before. So, I just mixed my favorite things into one tattoo. Now my style is portraits, but with graffiti and a bit of creepy imagery. I chose portraits because I am an portrait painter, graffiti because I love hip-hop culture from the ‘80s and ‘90s, and creepy because I love horror. My style has grown a lot and it just keeps on growing.
As a tattooer who uses street imagery in your designs, have you done any graffiti work and what inspired you to incorporate it into color portraits?
I used to do graffiti, but it was mostly for fun. I never did anything serious, just vandalism. But graffiti has always inspired me and favorite artists to date is PichiAvo.
