SPLICED LIFE /
TATTOOS / THE BLACK LODGE'S SEAN PERRINS
How long have you been in the tattoo
industry?
It's about 5 years since I picked a machine up, 3.5
since I assumed a qualified position.
Do you have a favourite style?
I guess I've always loved realism, colour or
greyscale, but these days I like the fact that tattooing
is becoming broader, and more varied, especially
when taking the European movements within the art
form into consideration. I think I'm still trying to find
something of my own in there too. I suspect that in
another 5 years or so I might have hopefully defined
my own style.
Where do you find inspiration?
All over, and nowhere. I follow the works of loads
of tattooists, illustrators, painters, sculptors - in
every kind of style I can find. Of course sometimes
inspiration is hard to come by - and then I tend to rely
on the moment. I'm a huge believer in spontaneity
and fluidity.
Is there anything you absolutely hate
tattooing? Dolphins? Stars? A particular part
of the body?
I hate what I call stock tattoos, the bird
silhouettes, the Pinterest feathers, 90's sticker book
tribal butterflies. You can have anything. Almost
anything at all. Why pick a generic stamp?
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Conversely to that - your ultimate tattoo?
What tattoo would you love to have the
opportunity to do?
If I ever got to do the ultimate tattoo I guess I'd
have to put the machine down after that. But I'd like
to do Tim Curry as the Devil in Legend, or maybe
Samuel Jackson as a gun-toting Jesus. It's the little
things that make me happy.
The client/artist relationship is an incredibly
important one. Tell us about your clients?
Have you ever refused to tattoo someone?
I've been exceptionally fortunate to cultivate
fantastic clients and I've only ever fired two for bad
behaviour. I refuse to tattoo a lot of things these
days - all those things I hate tattooing, I no longer
do. It doesn't feel fair to put my resentment under
someone's skin. The tattoo process, and my process,
is definitively personal. I need to be able to connect
with my work, and I need a certain amount of trust
and liberty to really get the best out of it. The longer
I do this, the easier it seems to be to get to that space
with someone who is often a relative stranger.
You've been a part of a couple of other
studios in the past, but The Black Lodge is
your latest venture. What sets it apart from
other tattoo studios?
For me all studios are different. Especially since
we've seen the move away from the dubious places