Bad Hands

The Circle—that infamous London hangout in Noel Street—has always had quite the reputation when it comes to ‘blink and you could miss it’ guest spots…and this time around, the boss happened to be passing by and who should he stumble upon but Pitta…

Come on. Some things don’t even have to pass through your head for you to know they’re a good idea. Stumbling across the artwork of Pitta is definitely one of them.With a base at the Bad Hands Tattoo Works in Seoul (Korea)—a country not officially bursting at the seams with enthusiasm for the art form and one in which you really need a medical licence to practice—Pitta has made quite a name for himself with his unique blend of mashing up Americana/ Japanese styles with the aesthetics of Dancheong, the traditional decorative colouring usually found in temples.

I find him here on his last day before he makes the journey north for a guest spot with Bez at Triple Six and we get dirty straight off the cuff because I want to find out what it’s like being a tattooer in Korea and whether the authorities are proactive on keeping it illegal out there…

“Tattooing is still illegal in South Korea but the younger generation have a lot of tattoos now. There are so many artists in Korea these days and I would say it’s escalating all the time. As for the police—it’s not so bad. The authorities won’t get involved unless there is a report made which is probably the same as it is in most countries I think.”

The illegality of it goes some way to explaining why Korean tattooing is something of a mystery unless you've looked hard at it on a personal level. Nobody writes or publishes huge volumes that feature hundreds of pages of work like they do about Japanese or Chinese tattooing. Having said that, it must have a history?

"There is a rumour that Japanese art is actually Korean in it's origin but I don't know if that's true or not. When people ask, I tell them that my style is influenced by the aesthetic of Korean folk paintings and Dancheong."