I'm a tattoo artist in Auckland, New Zealand.
I know that tattooing isn't considered a fine-art form along with photography, or painting. But I find that in tattooing a beautiful union is created between the tattooist's personal artistic energy, the client's imagination and personal meanings, as well the tattooing traditions and art styles cultivated for hundreds of years prior.
A master, when combining all of these factors, produces something with visual impact and beauty, something that both them and the artist can be proud of. Its an artistic process like any and after tattooing for a while I realise definitions like 'low brow art' are more harmful than necessary.
The time I spent in a fine art school opened my eyes to the stuffiness of it and drew my attention to low brow art forms, such as graffiti, tattooing, and memes. There is a creative liberation in them, and a philosophical freedom that fine arts can't have.
