Balinese Tattoos

The style you can only really get properly here. Barong and Rangda masks, Garuda, temple gates and the ornamental carving on every doorway on the island.

14 pieces from the Legian studio

Black and grey Balinese leg sleeve tattoo with Barong and Rangda masks, a temple shrine and frangipani

Fine line Balinese temple gate tattoo down a woman's spine, with Mount Agung, palms and frangipani

Full colour Balinese leg sleeve tattoo of Garuda and Barong masks with gold crowns and frangipani

Black and grey ornamental scalp tattoo with a crowned skull and flower-of-life dotwork

Balinese Rangda mask forearm sleeve tattoo in black and grey with colour eye accents and fangs

Colour neo-traditional forearm tattoo of a Balinese dancer in a traditional gelungan headdress

Dotwork Balinese Barong mask tattoo across the scalp with ornamental mandala shading

Colour Balinese leg sleeve tattoo of Barong and Rangda masks in red and gold with frangipani

Colour Garuda calf tattoo in red and gold, the Balinese Hindu bird deity with wings spread

Colour Balinese Barong mask calf tattoo with a gold crown, coiled snake and lotus flowers

Black and grey Barong mask lower leg tattoos with red lotus accents, poleng cloth and rice terraces

Fine line Balinese temple gate tattoo down a man's spine with a Barong face and Mount Agung

Black and grey ornamental Barong mask calf tattoo framed by scrollwork and lotus petals

Red and grey Balinese Barong mask lower leg tattoo with poleng cloth and frangipani, freshly tattooed

These are not decorative motifs borrowed for their shapes. Barong and Rangda, Garuda, the temple gates and the carved patterns around them carry meaning in Balinese Hinduism, and the good versions are drawn by people who grew up with them and understand what they are drawing.

That is the whole argument for getting this work in Bali rather than at home. An artist here has walked past these carvings every day of their life. They know how a Barong mask is actually constructed, which details matter and which are the tourist shorthand version.

Most Balinese work suits scale, because the ornamental patterning around the central figure is where a lot of the beauty sits. Sleeves and leg sleeves are common. Smaller single motifs work too and the gallery has both.

If you want a tattoo that is genuinely of Bali rather than merely from Bali, this is it. Come in and talk to us about what the piece should mean, not only what it should look like.

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Balinese Tattoos

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