Ways Of Seeing

We’re on the cusp of a cultural awakening. We speak to the rising artists of today – who have come of age with the internet and social media platforms – on what it means to be a young creative

- Kimberly Ong

We are facing an epochal demarcation in our lives. Before and after COVID-19, with today’s youth facing things that no other generation has faced before: the existential threat of a looming climate crisis, a shifting away from (and unlearning of) various systems of oppression and inequality. As much as we are facing a reckoning with our shared realities, it’s also about imagining new ones; inviting seismic shifts in perception and our ways of living. And there’s no better time than the present to take the leap as an individual creative. The arts have always served to reflect and drive culture forward, as an evocative commentary of our present day identities, and more importantly, what it could be. Whatever the medium of self-expression — whether it be working with vegetable dyes or tattoo ink — the message is clear: things are never going to be the same again.

SACHA ARMSTRONG, TATTOO ARTIST

Sacha Armstrong was 21 when she got her first tattoo. “I was pretty late to the game, I knew people who got tattoos when they were much younger,” she says. This sparked the very beginning of a love affair with tattooing. As she got acquainted with the industry, she took the plunge straight after graduation to start an apprenticeship at Feather Cloud Tattoo Studio under Shane Tan, one of the country’s most internationally renowned tattoo artists.

Today, the 28-year-old has been in the studio for a year and a half. Does she see herself being in this line of work forever? “I personally can’t see myself doing anything else. I love tattooing so much.”

How would you describe your personal artistic style?