When I first walked past Tora Sumi (read: walked, stopped, stared in window), I knew it was a pretty special place. Primarily tattoo studio, Tora Sumi blends art and beautiful design into the world of ink. Walking into the studio, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's an edgy new art space. Part hanging pieces, part installation, sculpture and interior design. But no, this is just a visionary way to make ink accessible to a range of people that are passionate about visual creativity, on their skin or on their walls.
Taken on a chilled tour of the studio by Store Manager, Loic, I quickly felt at home in the place. It was easy to feel inspired by the beautiful art layered on bright white canvas and tattoos emerging from the buzzing needles in the immaculate studio space. Comfy leather sofas welcome guests to hang out while they work collaboratively on designs with artists. A sunburst Les Paul stands in the corner and books on body art lean against shelves. Tora Sumi, or tiger ink, is represented by its modern day tribal tiger icon throughout the studio - even in the sunshine yellow window decals on the shop windows.
Spending half an hour with Loic chatting about the concept for the space, the work they do and seeing the Tora Sumi clientele pop in and out with coffee in hand, you get a really good feel that if you were going to get a tattoo, this is where you'd want to come. Chilled, pressure free and ultimately dedicated to the art it represents, this is a beautiful tattoo space that challenges the preconceptions of the dingy tattoo studios of old. Ink tempted.
No comments:
Post a Comment