"My Parents Wasn't Impressed At First, But Now I'm Doing My Mom": Meet Some Of The World's Best Tattoo Artists

Grace Neutral, London

Instagram has transformed the tattoo. There was an old white man biker mentality when I started – they were the keepers. There was sexism, racism and an old boys club. The only way to cut their teeth and carve out a career involved apprenticeships in their workshops. Now we can advertise ourselves. That's what I do to my 500,000 Instagram followers.

That said, I have a lot of traditional values ​​in tattooing. There was a mystical magic about it, which no longer exists. And with secrecy came tight-knit communities within our industry. Almost like families. Now the internet lets you go solo and do our own thing. For me, cultivating this community remains important. Because being a female tattoo artist - I was only 18 when I started - was quite difficult.

I've always been fascinated by body modification, whether with ink or piercings. I got tattooed when I was a teenager. Mom had books in her art studio about body modification – I flipped through and saw those pictures and was in love with the beauty of it all. I grew up in Plymouth and dropped out of school before GCSE. I hung around art school, never really finding a purpose. When I was 15, my friend asked me to book a tattoo appointment for her. I walked into the store to do it and also bought one for myself - a heart on the leg. I felt this euphoria afterwards, an addictive rush of endorphins.

At the time, I didn't think much about art or creativity. It wasn't until later – when I started tattooing others – that I thought of my body more as a canvas. This is part of the evolution of art. New tattoos can be designed to surpass old ones. My legs are now on their third layer.

I was 18 and walking around Soho with a friend when I was handed a flyer for a tattoo studio . I walked in – with no experience – and asked for a job. I was offered a piercing apprenticeship. I borrowed needles from the studio and printed stencils. From there, I never wanted to quit.

It was always the punch I enjoyed the most - the machines and I never got along. never really linked. I attach a needle to a piece of wood as a handle and draw each stitch by hand. I'm known for symmetry and geometric work, mandalas and patterns using shading.

Tattooing evolves. The industry is huge and it is better accepted by society. Tattoo artists are celebrities in their own right. Simply put, tattoos have become cool. People get tattoos for different reasons: to heal or to rebel; for trust, love or heartbreak - but it's still an expression of control. About your body, how you see yourself and how you are seen, in a world where it's hard to control anything.

I have a studio where I works three or four days a week, and we have room for nine artists. We don't have a storefront - we rely on the internet and word of mouth for business. When people come to see me, I show them examples, and they let me work with space on their bodies. I have free rein to draw and design as I see fit. This is how to get the best out of me as an artist.

Doy, Seoul, South Korea