Korean artist named Kim Joon was originally a painter interested in exploring the dynamics and tensions that exist between the mental and physical realms. Kim first became interested in the process of tattooing in college and while serving a three year military term in Seoul, Korea. During his time in school and the military, he began to give home made tattoos to his friends. When Mr. Kim gave these home made tattoos he used needle, thread, and Chinese ink. He would dip the thread into the Chinese ink and let it drip down the needle into the skin.
His digital prints utilise graphic animation to create three dimensional nude bodies on which he grafts on skin from things like snakes, human bodies and even fabrics, then embedding them with patterns from luxury brands coupled with Asian motifs. His work has included brands like Vivienne Westwood, Breitling, Montblanc, Ferragamo, BMW, and Chanel has even commissioned one his most recent works (right). In October, his work Bird Land - Armani sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong for almost HK$140,000. Pop culture references are also common in his work, from Donald Duck and Aerosmith to his tribute to Michael Jackson, Neverland.I am interested in tattoo as a metaphor for hidden desire or a kind of compulsion engraved into human consciousness. I see the skin, or in some cases the monitor, as an extension of a canvas. My earlier tattoo paintings were 3 dimensional canvases in the form of lumps of flesh or parts of a body, such as a muscular arm. Tattoos can reflect individual and collective reality or displaced desire.
via: www.kimjoo.co.kr
Tattoo & Taboo by Kim Joo
