contact form found below

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Tēnā koe e hoa, ko Tē Atihaunui-a-Pāpārungi, ko Aranae toku ingoa.

I am guided to design, carve, record, in the way that I do by listening to how things make me feel. The reservoirs of feeling are an intrinsic part of what it is to be alive, a resource of instinct that has always been available to us and will continue to be 4eva.

I don’t understand what I make as mine, I have a relationship with what my body creates but this stuff is not synonymous with me as if I or the creations are a static thing easily measured. It makes more sense to me to consider what I’m practising to be a process of translation; I am practising translating feelings into various material and sensory forms. It feels good for me when people resonate with what I am sharing and it simply feels good to just give some kind of expression to the wordless forces within.

Humans have had the impulse to adorn and carve a sense of identity into their skin throughout the world for millennia. I have recent tūpuna (ancestors) from a number of different lands and do believe that these relatives passed continue to live on somewhere within me, from the metaphorical sense to the biological. Multiple of these lineages have cultural skin marking (tattoo) practices and considering all humans have been feeling and making since the dawn of time, I’m sure my non inked tūpuna had varying kinds of creative inclinations too, (as did yours). So, in a way I do see this creative practice as a form of inheritance, a bridge to converse with the ancestors. A way of relating that has brought deep value to my life, one that I feel dedicated to nurture in my own mokopuna one day.

‍Pre designed aka FLASH

Send through the designs you’re interested in, where you visualise them on your body and your budget pls. If you’re not sure that’s chill, just send through what you’re thinking so far and we’ll have a convo about it. More info found here on the avail design page.

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CUSTOM

Please email me your idea in as much detail as possible inc reference images of my previous tat2s and why you like them,

photos your body, what size you’re imagining the tat2, your budget,

any scheduling/time boundaries you have and any other information you feel like sharing.

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I like to have a whole day to tattoo so there’s no rush. Please bring food, water and any other comforts you may want.

TRADE

Message me pls would love to hear from you.

IRL CONSULT

Email to find a time to talk in person.

TOUCH UP

Email me re touch up pls, would love to do this for you. No charge but if you wanna send $20 for materials that would be rad.

POST TATOO AFTERCARE

There are lots of different opinions about how to best heal a tatoo, this is what I’ve found works most effectively for me.

The first couple of days, twice a day (morning and night) wash the area with soap and water. Ideally a soap that is gentle and antibacterial, something like Dr. Bronners or a product designed for babies or tattoos specifically. Let the area air dry, so no rubbing it with a towel pls dear god.

The first couple of days this is all you need to do. We want the tat2 to settle, for the skin to breathe and to begin drying out a bit.

After a couple of days, if you feel like it, you can start applying some kind of gentle antibacterial cream. A lot of people use Bepathen, the chemist sometimes has a specific tattoo version but the baby one is og so either is good. I have had good results using coconut or jojoba oil with a couple of drops of lavender, these are all antibacterial and my skin is very familiar with them which helps. If you go this route please make sure the coconut oil is clean not like from a random jar in the kitchen.

A little moisturising product goes a long way- you don’t want to get the tattoo too moist otherwise the scabs can absorb too much water and fall off prematurely. When this happens they will pull some of the ink out of the skin which results in patchy healing and sometimes rogue scarring.

Please avoid swimming, itching, irritating clothing and direct sunshine on the area during this 2 week(ish) healing period. You know when the healing is finished once all of the scabs have dropped. The more peace and time the skin has to go through it’s normal healing process the better the tattoo will settle.

I came across my first automatic film camera just before moving to aus when I was 18; all of the photos I’ve shared here were taken on a Chinon SLR which I found at a secondhand market in Melbourne.

I’m not sure all of what is behind this impulse to visually record, but can’t deny I feel totally encapsulated by this slow time film recording process. I predominantly collect images of things I find beautiful, I believe these kinds of moments are always worth sharing/paying more attention to.

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Located in Ōtepoti, Aotearoa aka Dunedin, New Zealand

rn8ae@outlook.com