3 days ago
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While some of the event’s 5,000 attenders arrive sporting full bodysuits and ready to compete, others are gearing up for their first tattoo
At the Sydney tattoo convention, the city’s historic town hall fills with the buzz of tattoo machines, the comforting aroma of hospital-grade sanitiser and the timeless tunes of Linkin Park.
Convention founder and managing director of Thirteen Feet Tattoo studios, Katie Bailey, says it wasn’t easy to secure the 137-year-old venue. When she pitched it to Sydney council for their first event four years ago, “at first they were nervous about it, they had people everywhere checking in on us, but after that first event, they thought it was amazing. Tattooing and town hall just go together.”
Roughly 700 artists applied for the convention, but only 180 were approved to display their work for a crowd of 5,000 visitors. Many artists have filled their weekend’s schedule well in advance while other stalls have left space in their schedule for walk-ins. As well as seminars, documentaries, talks and a nail-biting, machete-juggling performance from the world’s most tattooed man, Lucky Diamond Rich, much of the event revolves around the competitions, held at the end of each day.
“It’s a platform to legitimise tattooing, which is becoming much more mainstream,” says co-organiser Rhys Gordon. “It opens up doors and minds,” making the world of tattooing more accessible to the uninitiated – like Sydney local Will, who is attending the convention to get his first tattoo.
As the stencil of a soaring American traditional eagle is placed across Will’s torso, he describes the situation as “a bit overwhelming … but I’ll get it done”. His artist, Ben Hastings from Sydney studio Tattoo Rosies supports his canvas – “he’s got this, he’s in the zone”. Not only did the piece get finished, William’s inaugural ink won the tattoo of the day competition.
Organisers put a strong emphasis on diversity among the stalls, and sought tattooists from regional towns. Artist Duane James, from Higherground tattoo studio in Kurrajong, spends the day working on a marathon thigh piece for Dasha, a tattoo devotee from Sydney’s northern beaches. “Being fully tattooed, it’s nice being among people that all share a common interest, it’s like I’m among my people,” she says. “It’s been wonderful.”
“We’ll absolutely get it finished today,” James promises. The pair are committed.
Laura has travelled from Hobart to go under the needle of artist Anna Rose. Rose and fellow artist Twitch spend much of the weekend collaborating on a leg sleeve for Laura.
“Anna and I have built a bit of a rapport over the time that we’ve done a few tattoos together,” Laura says. “There’s a lot of trust involved in this now – from both directions. I have a lot of faith in Anna and I know her work. We were just throwing around ideas but I knew coming into this that I was going to love whatever she was going to do.”
Testament to fostering a close relationship between artist and canvas, Laura’s piece wins the best collaboration competition.
Shell, winner of perhaps the most-entered competition, best back piece, proudly displays a massive traditional American eagle entangled with a traditional Japanese dragon, “a duality that represents my own taste and style”, she says. Both a tattoo artist and canvas, Shell beams at the opportunities to fan out at the convention. “I’m wanting to see what the other back pieces look like! I wanted to see what I was up against, because I know a lot of people have amazing back pieces.”
But the convention is not all about competition.
Thirty-year veteran of the industry Ichi Hatano, visiting from Japan, and his canvas Hugh are slowly chipping away on a traditional Japanese back piece. “I’ve been going to Japan to see him since about 2022,” says Hugh. “I go over a couple of times a year”. They are in no rush to finish. “It’s a very slow process, but it’s always worth it,” he says.
