Australian Tattoo no 58#

Words by John West

When I first heard that there was going to be a Tattoo Show in Christchurch I figured it’d be worth attending. Why? Because Christchurch is one of the more creative places on earth and home to a lot of artists and art enthusiasts outside the bounds of tattoo too. Anyway, I figured if the magazine could get behind the show it’d have a better chance of succeeding in the future – it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Christchurch is always worth a visit!

So I booked some tickets and waited. But it was while waiting that I begun hearing plenty of buzz about the SINZ (South Island New Zealand) Tattoo Expo and it took a while to realize the two were the same! Then Tat2Sue the organizer, and one of the hardest working people around, got in touch and I knew this was one not to miss!

Thank heavens we didn’t, as you can see from this small selection of the art on display. It was a superb showing of art from an area that’s got some magnificent tattoo artists with a hell of a lot of enthusiastic support. But not having had a show in town for many years also meant there was a bucket of new work – or at least work we hadn’t seen before.

Yep, it all went of beautifully too – full credit to Sue, James and their team  because they deserve an accolade for putting on a first show that’d rival any international showing straight off. The Netball Centre was a terrific venue and with some 30 categories, fifteen working artists, a heap of trade stalls and everything from hot rods to wood carving representing other alternative art mediums, the show was a genuine hit. Only 1 problem…

Unfortunately nobody thought to connect the artists names to the judging process, something made almost impossible to rectify later because the judges were Hugo Goorhuis and Yan Hus, a couple of very experienced Dutch Tattooist from Almere Studio in the Netherlands.

Now while a local judge might have recognized the work of a local artist, Hugo and Yan wouldn’t of had a hope. They could recognize a good tattoo though, and completely without any of the bias that always filters through when artists judge each others work. Theres no other way of doing it I know and its not always a plesant job, but I reckon Tat2Sue hit the nail right on the judgmental head getting 2 experts from overseas two handle the judging first time around. The art on display was judged with no external influences at all, it was the fairest judging I’ve ever seen at a tattoo event. It had to be.

But that leaves us with a hell of a problem because with work of this caliber, you want to know who did it! In order to get around this – and at the risk of upsetting a few people – I asked Sue to put together a quick list of the prominent artists who featured on the day so you’d have some names to think about. If you missed out, feel free to let us know!

Uk’s Skin Deep Magazine  #137 Review

 words by Mike form “Spike the Art Tattoo Studio”, Plymouth.

As this was the 1^st SINZ (South Island New Zealand) convention it was everything organizer Sue Moore could have hoped for. Not that she saw a lot of it as she spent most of the day running around exhausted, tearing her hair out, a feeling I’m sure most convention organizers can relate too. But she need not have worried. The months of dedicated planning by her team made the day buzz along making her ‘Best of Day’. The venue catered for everything the crowd could need with outside seating, live entertainment, hot rods and local art stalls. We had met with Sue and helpers the night before, after two hours driving in circles looking for netball pitches (the venue), but after a few local beers and a lot of laughs we ended up parking our van on site and we became the over night security!

The show didn’t appear to be heavily advertised in Christchurch but people had heard the word from somewhere and come 11 o’clock the queue of heavily tattooed people was half way around the car park, mingling with the hot-rods on display.

The tattooed folk enjoyed the novelty of having their photos taken by a UK tattoo magazine. This was the 1^st for most and many are still proud to be linked to the UK. This allowed us access to “Down Under” artwork where they like their body suits big style!

With over thirty categories, the guest judges, Hugo Goorhuis and Yan Hus from Almere Tattoo in the Netherlands had their work cut out. I think the locals were a bit unsure as to what was supposed to happen at a convention and the novelty of having a tattoo done on the day took a few by surprise.

During our week prior to the show we met some local artist over a social beverage and their feeling about SINZ was that it was’ bound to be full of hippies and substandard bullshit tattoos’, How wrong they were, typical of the pathetic bitchiness in the art world and we had to ask where was their stall at the show!

One interesting category was ‘Self Tattooed’ which was judges by a public ballet. The standard of work was amazing, not to mention the positions they must have put themselves in! One artist that stood out was Raelene Robinson. She also turned her hand to leatherwork for the awards, each one hand made from kangaroo hide and each unique.

It was disappointing to hear that there were no entrants for the Moko categories in the land of Moko, this didn’t seem to make sense, but quite a surprise considering Riki Manual was there to demonstrate some remarkable Moko Art.

Within the major cities of New Zealand, tattoo art is there on the streets and the inhabitants are proud of there ink and they do it big and bright in NZ, but once you venture away from the metropolis it seems to go underground. The only’ body mod’ sighting we made out in the wilds was the odd branded sheep! We enjoyed the convention immensely; the welcome we received was great, we also took up Riki Manuel’s invitation to spend the day at his Christchurch Art Studio where we received a traditional Maori welcome, which was a great honor and a true learning experience into the ways of the Maori.

The stay in New Zealand flew by ad the ‘tattooed folk’ we met in the North Island is another story all together. It was a real shame that we had to leave. Well be back for sure!

Tattoo’s Downunder #58

Christchurch… the garden city, gateway to the Southern Alps, home of the world’s greatest rugby team and birthplace of yours truly!

So it was with great anticipation that I made the trip up from sunny Dunedin to attend the South Island New Zealand Tattoo & Art Expo also known as S.I.N.Z.

Boasting 12 working tattoo booths, 2 body piercer’s, artist displays and stalls, hot rods, musicians and a 30 category tattoo competition, the expo was a tribute to the abilities of the organizer extraordinaire Sue Moore (Tat2Sue).

Held at an excellent venue in the Christchurch Netball Centre, set against the stunning backdrop of Hagley Park and blessed with superb Canterbury weather (we do get good days down here y’know..), there really was no way this event could be anything other than the success it was.

There was some seriously good work on display with plenty of support from the local Christchurch Studios, a good smattering of North Island crews, a large contingent from the depths of Dunedin and Invercargill, plus representation from Nelson, Kiakoura and Australia.

Special mention must be made of the guest judges Jan Hus and Hugo Goorhuis from Almere Tattoo Studio, who made the trip down from the Netherlands for the show. Hugo has an amazing Greg Orie bodysuit and Jan is a nephew of the legendary old school dutch artist Tattoo Peter, so it was fantastic to have these gentlemen on board.

As always at events like these the real pleasure lies in meeting people who are truly enthusiasts about the noble art of tattooing, be it traditional Ta Moko or new skool insanity. It is always best to see great tattoos in the flesh, especially the folks with serious coverage. The time and dedication that goes into a bodysuit really is something to be respected.

Hopefully these photos do the S.I.N.Z. Expo justice, as it was an exceptionally well-run occasion.

If everyone who attended enjoyed themselves as much as I did then there were some extremely happy (and tired) tattoo fiends in the deep south that night.

 Words by Brendan from Dig A Tattoo Studio Dunedin.