Category: Hyperreal

Q&As with Yeono about Photorealistic Tattoos

When Yeono was 17 years old, her mother decided she wanted a tattoo and sought her assistance in locating an artist. She was awestruck by the precision and artistry of Japanese tattoos (especially the extraordinary backpieces). Yeono quickly connected with tattooing and realized it would be her lifelong passion and profession. She investigated the possibility of following the […]

High-Precision Realism: Interview with Tattooist Denis “Tidan” Torikashvili

Hailing from South Russia, specifically Rostov-on-Don, Denis “Tidan” Torikashvili began his tattooing career in 1997. That’s 23 years ago when there was barely an industry, acceptance, and fair working conditions. Tidan has had many setbacks and restarts, from moving and working in Moscow to London—the latter getting a big break at NR Studio in 2017. […]

Yanina Viland: Painting, Tattooing and Creating Positive Experiences

We met up with tattoo artist Yanina Viland in her new private studio in Lisbon, Portugal, located in the traditional part of the city that overlooks the Tagus river. She smiled, showing us her balcony—the outdoor space where she spends time just chilling and collecting thoughts. Her dog BB King, a friendly mutt she adopted […]

Presence & Void: Serenely Surreal Paintings by Victor Grasso

The paintings of Victor Grasso are both surreal and ordinary, erotic and innocent, eerie and filled with light. Based in Cape May, New Jersey, Grasso’s work is heavily influenced by the sea, one of his principal muses. One of the many things that makes Grasso so fascinating as a contemporary painter—in addition to the complex […]

David Gluck Interview: Transitioning From Painting to Tattooing

While David Gluck has only been inking bodies for a few years, he has been inking canvases for over a decade. His oil paintings evoke classical artists like Rembrandt in their use of light and shadow, and through careful practice he has brought that style to his tattoos as well. His friendly and engaging demeanor […]

Are Tattooers Rock Stars or Nerds? Mauro Amaral Explains in This Interview

Thinking I was going to meet a mega-rock-star personality at the convention, Mauro Amaral was extremely different from what I was expecting. He was not over the top, but actually down-to-earth and appreciative of all the experiences he has had at conventions. He was a rock star for being sincere, his true self. I had […]

Shades of Comedy and Death: Hypnotic Drawings by Michael Reedy

Michael Reedy draws moody anatomy illustrations with a pop-surrealist flair. Juxtaposing cartoonish and psychedelic elements with photorealistic bodies that have been flayed and cut open, his works create an emotional yet unsettling atmosphere. As he explains on his website, his more recent works revisit “the timeless themes of life, death, and the human condition.” Not […]

Hyperrealistic Paintings of Fragmented Faces by Ben Howe

Ben Howe is an Australian artist (born in London) who paints hyperrealistic depictions of sliced and crumbling faces. His series “Surface,” featured here, explores in mind-bending detail the “density, flexibility, and texture of human flesh.” In some cases, the texture of stone is replicated, giving the images and their clean compositions a statue-like appearance. Recurring […]

Between Presence and Absence: Paintings by Istvan Sandorfi

Istvan Sandorfi was a Hungarian surrealist painter who died in 2007 at the age of 59. Not many people seem to know of his work today (he himself had a modest opinion of his ability, claiming “I never had the impression that I really knew how to paint”), but his mind-bending experiments depicting the simultaneous […]

Exploring the Posthuman Body in Sculptures by Bogdan Rata

The surreal sculptures of Romanian artist Bogdan Rata explore the transformation of the body on a hyper-modern social scale. Drawing upon posthumanism—that is, the philosophies that delve into what it means to be “human” in the age of nanotechnology and bio-engineering—Rata makes his bodies out of processed materials such as polyester, synthetic resin, and industrial […]