Jeanchoir is a Marseille-based tattoo artist and the founder of Sombre Tache (in English: Dark Spot) tattoo studio. As the name suggests, this is indeed the place for dark and unusual ink; occultism meets Giger-esque aliens in Jeanchoir’s unholy tattoos, birthing the kinds of creatures you’d only expect to find in the forests of distant […]
Category: Nude
Light Through Shadow: Photography by Krist Mort
Austria-based Krist Mort is a photographer creating ethereal, black-and-white images of figures in forests and overgrown rooms. Using analog cameras and darkroom printing, her process is hands-on and deeply intuitive, producing a quality of grittiness and grain that reflect the weathered nature of being alive and pressed through time (“Heathen Harvest” wrote a fascinating piece […]
Transcending Sickness: Atmospheric Portraits by Nihil
Nihil is a French artist residing in Norway. “Ventre” is the name of his ongoing project, which includes short, cryptic texts and images filled with symptoms of illness and rapture, often with a medieval, religious slant. He describes his work as “portraits of saints and martyrs who lost their humanity to drown in divine serenity”; […]
Suburban Occult: Joseph Haxan’s Twisted, Euphoric Photography
Welcome to the dark world of Joseph Haxan, a bizarre place where suburbia meets the occult in scenes of bacchanal-style rapture and pure absurdity (with subtle tones of eros). Hordes of nude male bodies congregate in late-night fields and construction sites, averting their faces to avoid the subjectifying gaze of the camera; the only time […]
Soft and Uncertain Portraits by Kristina Varaksina
Kristina Varaksina is a Russian-born, New York–based artist known for soft-hued portraits conveying the quiet-yet-complex inner worlds of her subjects. We featured her work in the past—specifically, ethereal photographs of a red-haired model—but recently, Varaksina has shared “Anonymous,” a series referencing 20th-century surrealism. As the title suggests, these images are about identity and “the unease […]
Time-Honored Artistic Practice With a Modern Twist by Andrey Surnov
In the education of an artist, live figure painting is often part of the curriculum. The nude human form holds a rich tradition in art, with statues and paintings of it that date back thousands of years. Moscow-based artist Andrey Surnov carries on this practice with his portraits of women. The images feature tall, plus-size […]
Goddess and Warrior Tattoos Handpoked by Tati Compton
Wild curiosity and strong independence give Tati Compton a unique voice in modern tattooing. Inspired by myths, mysticism and folklore from around the world, she handpokes figures of divine empowerment. Athena, Greek goddess of war, leaps into battle with grace. Ala, Nigerian Earth Mother, beams with natural hair and a halo of energy. There’s Circe, […]
Katharsis: Powerful, Purifying Portraits by Anemites
Anemites (Luciana Rodriguez) is a multidisciplinary designer and artist living in Cordoba, Argentina. Most of her powerful images are self-portraits. Featured here is “Katharsis,” a conceptual series that incorporates evocative poses and surreal elements (such as fire, multiplicity, and bodily dissolution) to convey moments of great psychological pain. The power and drama of these images […]
A Little Bit Strange, Surreal, and Sensual: Tattoos by Trobbies
Illustrator and tattoo artist known simply as Trobbies draws on skin and paper in The Hague, Netherlands. His minimalist line art features portraits of half-faces and hands, with each of them folding into one another like knocked-down dominoes. Fractured and split, it’s hard to make sense of what kind of story Trobbies is trying to […]
Passion and Escapism in the Sculptures of Jessica Dalva
Jessica Dalva is a multidisciplinary artist, exercising her talent and imagination in the mediums of sculpture, illustration, set design, puppet-making, and more. Previously based in LA, she now resides in San Francisco, where she helps maintain the wax figures at Madame Tussauds. In her beautiful wall-hanging sculptures, Dalva demonstrates her diverse abilities in art-making and […]