This Spanish tattoo artist works in his own studio called “Old Boy Tattoo”, owes everything to his brother and produces personal pieces somewhere between fiction and reality…
Let’s say an alien lands on Earth today and asks around who Oash is and where his art comes from. What do you tell him?
Oash is a boy who has always been between two worlds – in the real world and in his imagination. While in the real world everything happens in a normal way, in Oash’s imagination there are stories where there are ladies, mysticism and many, many monsters. I am almost always immersed in that world, creating stories to later be able to represent them in the form of an illustration, tattoo or painting. My art comes from all these stories that are half fiction and half reality. It comes from curiosity and wanting to learn different things every day, it comes from the classic, the new and above all from the need for expression.
Would I be right in saying that yours is an art that was born in the East and finds fulfilment in the West? Is Oash a sort of two-worlds tattoo artist?
I think it’s a rather diffuse reality and I feel a little bit divided.
I love Western art and all its history, especially in oil painting, for its technique and its finishes, but on the other hand I am fascinated by everything that comes from oriental culture. Legends, aesthetics, the way of seeing the world and of course its art, so if I am a person between two worlds then I am looking for a way to build a bridge to be able to keep my balance in both.
Would you agree that there also a little bit influence of literary or pictorial Fantasy among your works?
My influences are very wide but above all come from painting. I have always been fascinated by the history of art and painting in general, Picasso, Velazquez, Pre Raphaelites, Klimt, Hokusai, Kuniyoshi, and many more inspire me every day to face my work as well as mythology and all the legends that feed my imagination as they mix together. Generally speaking, that has quite an influence on me and I never know where a good idea is going to come from…
Can you name the people who have been the most important mentors in your life? And I don’t just mean those tattoo artists who taught you this craft…
Teachers, I have had many and I still have them. Every one of them has something important to teach me. One of my greatest teachers is my brother Raúl. He is a very special person, and simply with his way of being he has taught me the greatest life lessons that I could ever learn.
I wish I could see life as his eyes see it, without evil, without prejudice, with so much love, and constant improvement.
He has spurred me on to work hard to achieve everything I set my mind to. Throughout 12 years in the profession I have learned from many people: Coko Fernández, the brothers Julio and Álex Alcazar, Kutulo etc. And those who currently surround me: Sara, Rosacio, Yau and Padi. I think the key is to share time and knowledge with the people around us.
Do you work in a private place by appointment or do you also refer to other professional studios?
I currently run my own studio with my wife Sara and my colleagues Rosacio, Yau and Pads. It’s called “Old Boy Tattoo” and it’s in Madrid. You just have to come see me or drop me an email; we talk about the project and we give it shape. When I can travel, I travel to other studios outside and within Spain.
Last question: if Oash were a movie instead of a tattoo artist what would the title be?
On the one hand I would say that it would be “Midnight in Paris” by Woody Allen since I am a person who dreams of being able to travel to a past where everything was different and to be able to savour art in its purest state without social networks or television, in a purer way, but with the vision of a person who lives in today’s world. On the other hand, any Wes Anderson film where reality is confused with fantasy. And suddenly you find yourself in a magical realism where you cannot distinguish fiction from reality…
