*English below
Ik ben Hannah Meijer en ik werk nu 3 jaar als tatoeëerder bij The Ink Society in Utrecht.
In mijn ogen zijn de beste tekeningen die ontstaan zijn bij toeval. Ze zijn niet gemaakt om 'mooi' of 'esthetisch aantrekkelijk' te zijn; ze zijn er gewoon. De patronen verschijnen toevallig, wat ze puurder laat aanvoelen. De tekeningen die ik voor mijn tattoos gebruik, zijn vormen die ik tegenkom in het dagelijks leven, daarom noem ik ze Found Drawings. Meestal kies ik niet hoe ik teken, alleen wat ik teken, omdat ik ze simpelweg opmerk en selecteer. Dit maakt het idee of concept achter de tekening belangrijker dan het beeld zelf. Ik geloof dat dit ook geldt voor tattoos, en daarom gebruik ik mijn tekeningen ook als flash. In mijn werk combineer ik mijn found drawings tot collages maar ook als losstaande tekeningen.
Ik ben altijd al gefascineerd geweest door prehistorische mensen, al vanaf kinds af aan. Ik vroeg me vaak af: 'Hoe zouden oermensen dit hebben gedaan?' Het feit dat ze al kunst maakten en culturen hadden waar tattoos in voorkwamen, fascineert me. Het voelt speciaal om een beroep te hebben met wortels die zo ver terug in de tijd gaan. De non-figuratieve, prehistorische tattoos hadden waarschijnlijk ook betekenissen, net zoals de mijne vandaag de dag, en waren conceptueel belangrijk. Ik voel me verbonden met deze oude traditie en zie mijn tattoos als moderne caveman-tattoos.
Meer info op mijn Instagram pagina
ENG
My name is Hannah Meijer, and I have been working as a tattoo artist at The Ink Society in Utrecht for three years now.
In my view, the best drawings are those that happen by accident. They're not made to look 'pretty' or 'beautiful,' they just are. The patterns appear by chance, which makes them feel more pure. The drawings I use for my tattoos are shapes I come across in daily life, which is why I call them found drawings. Usually, I don’t choose how I draw, only what I draw, since I simply notice and select them. This makes the idea or concept behind the drawing more important than the image itself. I believe this is also true for tattoos, which is why I use my drawings as tattoo flash. In my work, I’ve been combining my found drawings into collages.
I’ve always been fascinated by prehistoric humans, even as a child. I often wondered, 'How would cavemen have done this?' The fact that they already made art and had cultures that included tattooing fascinates me. It feels special to have a job with roots that go so far back in time. The non-figurative, prehistoric tattoos likely had meanings, just like mine do today, and were conceptually important. I feel connected to this ancient tradition and see my tattoos as modern caveman tattoos.
More info on my Instagram page
Dagmar
"A few years back I went to Scotland on holiday. We hiked through the mountains everyday and I fell in love with hiking and Schotland.I was using a gps tracker when we were scrambling through a river and when I got home I was amazed by the pattern of my scramble. And a new tattoo was born.Hannah was the perfect tattoo artist for my tattoo, because she works with patterns too. She knew exactly what I wanted and working together on the design was very pleasant."
Helena
"Most of my memories of my childhood are linked to my grandparent’s beach house, and I wanted to have a tattoo to honor it for a long while. I didn’t really knew how I wanted to see it translated to ink until I saw the work Hannah does with natural drawings and collages. I knew then that it would be perfect for this!
She collected many elements from the photos I had, and prepared a draft. We also had an sketch appointment, where we played with all the elements, stenceling them to skin, and slowly getting the tattoo to its final shape. It was incredible to be able to participate so actively on the creation of the tattoo. During the whole process, Hannah really listened to my wishes, and now I have a wonderful and special tattoo to celebrate my childhood."
Emma
"The design process was probably the most important and meaningful part of this experience. It was a genuine collaboration where we both spent considerable time apart and together thinking about what would work for both of us. In this way a beautiful tattoo emerged. It was important to me that Hannah could enjoy the tattooing process, feel like she had created something original, and be proud of her work. I wanted an art piece that looks abstract but can easily be explained as individual elements but also have personal meaning to me. I would absolutely love to have more tattoos created by Hannah."