Laura Crow

"No one knows precisely when and where tattooing originated, but one thing is certain, this traditional custom goes back to long before the Christian era started. Tattoos have been influenced by religious beliefs and customs. Customs have been passed on for generations, going through many twists and turns as our culture evolved. Tattoos once possessed profound meanings and purposes that adhered to daily life. Depicted were religious scenes, designs with magic power, and other marks to indicate classes, residential areas or tribes. Tattoos nowadays, however, seem to have mainly become decoration for the body. With the exception of cases in which certain groups hold fast to their old traditions, tattooing can be thought of as a means of decoration created by a process acting on the human body, a process that leaves a permanent marking on the skin. A ancient practice, tattooing is accompanied by almost intolerable pain, but people who want tattoos don't seem to be concerned. They choose the part of the body to be marked and pick out designs at their own discretion. Tattoos can be expressions of a variety of emotions, desires or beliefs: they can testify to religious faith, be a means of self-assertion, be a symbol of power, a sign of yearning, or an erotic or seductive symbol. Here it would be meaningless to consider people who dislike them. Everyone has had the experience of a glimpse into the world of tattoos at least once or twice in their lives, but only a few people have been caught up in the spell of a truly vivid tattoo with a powerful presence in a profound combination of beauty and ugliness. Those so attracted can be divided into practitioners and recipients. Actually in many cases, the practitioners are also recipients-the artist is the model or the wearer of the adornment. Throughout the long history of tattoos, many new modes of expression and techniques have been devised and created. Tattooing has begun to develop into an artistic world transcending mere physical decoration. This trend is clearly seen in the tattoo world in the West. A new artistic form in which the human body replaces the canvas is coming into being as a form of aesthetic expression in which eternal beauty cannot be guaranteed. It remains to be seen how long this custom will continue and how far people will go in their efforts to improve their technique-in an activity that represents a violation of the human body created by God and nature, an activity with the potential for an infinite combination of brightness and darkness."---The Third Horiyoshi