Oriental Tattoos
Irezumi and its modern descendants. Dragons, koi, hannya masks, samurai and peonies, all set in wind and water.
31 pieces from the Legian studio
Japanese tattooing has rules, and those rules are the reason it looks right on the body in a way that pasted together designs never do. Motifs belong with certain other motifs. Wind bars and water flow in particular directions. A piece wraps a limb along the muscle rather than sitting flat across it.
An artist who knows the tradition is designing the whole area at once, even if you only commit to part of it now. That is why a Japanese sleeve started properly can be extended into a back piece years later and still read as one thing.
The style is built for scale. Sleeves, back pieces and leg sleeves are where it makes most sense, and the background is as much of the work as the subject. We also do smaller single motifs, and the gallery has both.
Our oriental work covers traditional irezumi subjects as well as neo-Japanese pieces that keep the composition and open up the colour and detail. Tell us which direction appeals and we will match you to the artist who works that way.