By Marcia Manna
The San Diego Union-Tribune
The upper part of Chad Brown’s chest and arms is a mantle of black that stops just beneath the armpit. Then, a Micronesian-inspired design of geometric shapes emerge, traveling down his torso and decorating the length of his arm like a sleeve and ending just past the wrist.
When the curious ask Brown what his full body tattoo means, he replies, “Well, after hundreds of hours of work spread out over sixteen years at a cost totaling over $20,000, the word ‘dedication’ comes to mind.
Brown is one of the models who will walk the runway Saturday for “Masterworks for Body Art,” a fundraising event that complements the Oceanside Museum of Art exhibition “Ancient Marks: The Sacred Origins of Tattoos and Body Marking.”
The show is intended for a mature audience, with models representing San Diego’s top tattoo artists, including guest curator Chris Winn, San Diego artist Fip Buchanan of Avalon Tattoo II and Rory Keating of Guru Tattoo in Pacific Beach.
Keating, who specializes in “tribal” designs inspired by various Pacific Island cultures, created Brown’s full-body suit.
“It was a collaborate process from the beginning,” said Brown, “I always had a very strong view on how the design should look and feel, and I always provided Rory with hand-drawn designs to base our work from. However, it takes a master tattoo artist to take an individual’s designs and translate them from paper to the complex compounding curves of the body.”
The effort and artistry required of a master tattoo artist is also displayed in the museum’s exhibit of more than 100 black-and-white images taken by documentary photographer Chris Rainier.
It’s not so unusual for a museum to exhibit provocative images that portray the tattoo art of various cultures.
But complementing the show with live canvases sauntering down a catwalk is evidence that the body art we once might have associated with military machismo and unsavory characters is now a viable art form. After the show, hors d’oeuvres and wine will be served.
“I was contacted by the museum’s executive director, Skip Pahl, about the idea of a runway show,” said Winn, known at La Jolla Tattoo for his traditional and Japanese-inspired designs.
“We’ve done contests that demonstrate the quality and design of the work at conventions, but we’ve never done a museum runway show. I knew it would be a great forum. It’s about time we get the recognition that we have wished for. We work very hard at what we do.”
The artists also work very hard at learning the history and techniques of creating body art.
When Keating first saw tribal tattoos, they appealed to him visually.
“I like that look because of the strength and simplicity of the design,” he said. “I find that abstract tribal designs seem more appropriate on the human body than detailed illustrations.”
In Samoan culture, traditional tribal tattoos are often created with a boar’s tusk or bone that has been carved to razor sharp-points in the shape of a comb. The comb (not as sharp as an electric needle but sharp enough to do the job) is dipped into ink and tapped into the flesh with a mallet or stick.
Both Keating and his wife have traveled to Samoa, had their picture taken by Rainier and chose to have tattoos administered in the traditional Samoan way.
“It was painful,” Keating admitted. “One to three people assist and sometimes they will sing. When they sing, it hurts less. It’s a slow process to learn and most who have been taught that style are from traditional tattooing cultures.”
Those who saw the televised “Tattoo Wars,” a reality competition that aired on the Learning Channel last year, will recognize Keating, who won the challenge by viewer votes. Inspired by the miniature abstract pattern that a female client admired on the border of Vietnamese currency, he created a design that stretched across her upper chest, from shoulder to shoulder.
When he’s working at Guru Tattoo, Keating said that he sometimes refuses requests to create body art that he feels is inappropriate. He won’t duplicate a design on a part of the body that is considered sacred to a specific culture. He also refuses to copy a celebrity tattoo or create a design that would be considered offensive or hateful.
Keating said he is especially proud of the body suit he created for Brown.
“It’s one cohesive design and the only full suit in the runway show,” Keating said. “It’s a lot of work and stress, but it is the ultimate presentation of your work.”
