We interviewed this brilliant Chinese tattoo artist who works in a quiet place at the foot of a hill of Hangzhou. And he gave us some very poetic answers…
Hello Wenlong, can you tell me something about yourself?
Hello, my full name is Wenlong Liu. ‘Cuitattoo’ (IG: @cuitattoo) is the name of my tattoo studio which is based in Hangzhou, China since 2006.
Tell me something more about ‘Cuitattoo’.
I have my own tattoo studio located at the foot of Phoenix Hill in Hangzhou. It’s a place of peace and quiet.
Did you have mentors you encountered during your artistic journey or do you consider yourself a completely DIY artist?
I don’t consider myself a completely DIY artist. In early years I made studies about the tattoo culture.
I feel so lucky that I met lots of the greatest tattoo artists like Filip Leu and Horiyoshi III who impressed me a lot.
They taught me how important it is to include my ethnic culture in my own tattoo work, which is the most important thing in tattoo art.
What is your artistic intent? To strenuously preserve the tradition of oriental tattooing or to bring it little by little into the actuality of the third millennium?
My artistic intent is to inherit the tradition of oriental culture and at the same time inject new blood into it. To make traditional culture to be able to meet modern aesthetic.
If you were to try to describe your style using your own words, what would you tell me?
With solidness in softness. To make each line and shade to look like naturally borne on every carrier’s skin. To be like water, floating but not weak.
Water floats in darkness, and we can find strong life in it.
Do you have Chinese or abroad conventions just scheduled?
If I get the chance I would be very glad to go aboard to see friends and attend conventions if possible.
Is your waiting list very long?
My waiting list is about one year long.
And your last famous words are…?
Can I answer you in my own language? 一针 一心 一生。
Now you have to translate for us…
I’m not very sure about how to translate it into English. These words summarize all of my tattoo career. It basically means “Contribute all heart and life into one needle forever”.
