Young tattoo artists bring new ink to Kazakhstan
ASTANA. KAZINFORM Tattoos are becoming a usual thing in Kazakh life - it is hard to surprise anyone with the body parts one may choose to ink. Although the industry is still new in the state, the art form is winning the hearts of Kazakh youth.
Young and talented tattoo artists from Astana and Almaty recently shared their experiences, views, plans and opinions on the country’s ink future with EdgeKz.
Tattoo Skull Studio opened in October in the centre of the capital. Founded by artists Ruslan Batyrbayev and Mikhail Kogut, the studio claims to be Astana’s unique place to get your body inked.
The artists come from different Kazakh cities – Karaganda and Uralsk, respectively, and had encounters in their hometowns before deciding to run their own business.
Batyrbayev, who practiced law for six years, became interested in the art in 2011 when he saw a girl with a coloured tattoo. Later, he attempted to make tattoos by himself; although he did not have any special professional art education, but had been drawing since he was three. Batyrbayev advanced to professional tattooing in 2012 after returning from the Novossibirsk tattoo festival in Russia, which according to him “opened his eyes.” It was also the time when he got his first ink and now has around 10 percent of his body covered with different drawings.
Kogut’s fascination with tattoos began in the army. After returning home, he decided to try the art of professional tattooing and ordered special equipment. Although he is a graduate of college and art school, Kogut realized he needed to improve his skills with additional study. He later moved to Uralsk, where he became an artist at one of the local studios in 2012.
Ruslan Apridonidze, 22, is an artist at the studio. After getting his two first tattoos, he thought he could attempt the art form. He is also a graduate of the art school and has been involved in the industry since 2014.
Tattoo Skull has three additional artists who recently started their careers. Batyrbayev, Kogut and Apridonidze help them master their skills.
Each person works in a different style which they choose according to what they like. Batyrbayev loves realistic freehand tattoos and Kogut enjoys working with photos, sometimes making a collage from several pictures. Apridonidze added realism is the closest style to him as well, but he is still searching for his own design.
The artists noted there is a moment one reaches in conversation with tattooed people, the rules of courtesy in some way. As they say, it is somewhat unethical to ask people the meaning of their tattoos.
“If we see a beautiful tattoo, the maximum what we say is that it is great and we can ask who made it and how long it took,” they said.
“I like to get tattoos from experienced artists from whom I can learn something. It is not the same when you look how they do it on the other person. When you get a tattoo on yourself, you can feel the process,” added Batyrbayev.
When asked why people get tattoos, the team answered that every person has a different reason.
The article was taken from the website of the Kazakhstan Embassy in the U.S. https://www.kazakhembus.com
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