BME Pubic Piece Update

I’ve posted on Mateo’s BME logo pubic scar previously, which has been getting augmented with a growing and glowing aura of dotwork ink geometry by Jodi Lyford of Chimera (chimeratattoo.com) in Santa Cruz. She’s recently done more work on it, and it’s absolutely stunning. And the best thing about it is that it has an extremely realistic beard! But seriously, along with Keff’s dotwork BME logo sleeve and Joeltron’s BME logo backpiece, Matteo’s easily earns a place in my shortlist of best BME-themed body art.

mateo1t mateo2t mateo3t

On a barely related note, speaking of Mateo, that reminds me I’ve been meaning to post a picture of the great nostril jewelry that Pauly Unstoppable was wearing in his latest pictures (the connection is that Mateo has done many of Pauly’s piercings). It almost looks like the coils that the Kayan people wear around their necks, and to my surprise is a look that I rarely see even though it’s quite beautiful.

pauly-nosecoils

Implants to match forehead tattoos

Earlier this month Matias Tafel (of Rata Body Art in Buenos Aires, Argentina — ratabodyartstudio.com.ar) posted a set of custom implants that he hand carved for his friend Gaby Peralta — you can see one of the matching set inset in the photo below. Well, they’ve since been installed and doing well, and in this picture are two weeks old. As you can see, the implant was carved to match the blackwork swooshes on her forehead, although it won’t be clear exactly how well the two work together until more time has passed and the implant has more definition. I think on an aesthetic level too this photo might be misleading, as the implant probably looks very different with her hair down, since it changes the flow when the implant ridge apparently flows back onto the head under the hair (even though it doesn’t), versus just being a triangle. I’m sure this will look great in six months to a year when it’s fully settled in. Zoom in for a closer look.

Ear Pointing Evolution

To generalize, ear pointing works by cutting a piece out of the top of the ear, and then stitching the open portions together, folding the helix rim up into a point. It is a wonderful optical illusion that this makes it seem as if the ear has a point coming out the top, when in fact the ear has actually been lengthened very little, if at all, since we can only remove tissue — nothing is added. While additive procedures are theoretically possible, they appear currently beyond the reach of the body modification practitioner, if not beyond the reach of most reconstructive surgeons. In the majority of ear pointings done since Steve Haworth first invented them in the mid-1990s, the wedge-removal procedure has changed little — only the location, size, and shape differs (and varying the shape of the piece removed the result can cover a wide range of appearances).

However, Samppa Von Cyborg expanded the procedure by removing more than just what’s needed for the point, allowing one to reshape the entire contour of the ear. This related example is by Matias Tafel of Rata Body Art in Argentina. You can see from both the stitches and the animation that a long strip running much of the height of the ear has been excised, giving an end result where the ear is narrower as well as pointy. This narrowness brings with it the optical illusion of additional length/height, because it changes the length to height ratio and tricks the mind of the observer.

matias-ear-animation

BME logo vs. Jodi Lyford

I love the way Mateo (a regular here on ModBlog) is integrating his BME logo with the new geometric work being done by Jodi Lyford of Chimera Tattoo Studio & Gallery (chimeratattoo.com) in Santa Cruz. This is just the very start of the session and the very beginning of what I’m sure will be a great addition to Mateo’s already impressive collection of body art.

mateo-bme-geometry

Broken Heart or High Voltage Heart

Matias Tafel of Argentina’s Rata Body Art (ratabodyartstudio.com.ar), a long-time friend of BME, today showed me one of his latest pieces of implant art, a well-defined “broken heart” on the back of the hand. The break is nicely defined, but to me it looks much more like a lightning bolt, and I have to admit that I like the idea of a high voltage heart more than a broken heart anyway. Maybe the wearer can change their mind about what it means to suit their mood.

rata-heart

He did another heart implant a while back that I want to share with you, this little heart implanted underneath a heart tattoo tucked away behind the client’s ear. I gotta say though, I wish I had never seen the “gout spider tattoo” because now that’s all I can think of any time I see an implant with a red tattoo over it.

rata-ear-heart

A Good Afternoon via Implants and Scars

Two days ago I posted a neat set of star-shaped horns (placed impressively precisely underneath preexisting tattoos), but I wanted to follow up with another star implant, this one by Matias at Rata Body Art in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s fresh in the photo — as you already know if you noticed the incision tucked away at the hairline. As great as this looks, I don’t think I would personally want a temple implant — even lightly resting my finger on my temples makes me feel like I’ve got a killer headache coming on. I’d hate to find that I’d implanted something on top of a pressure spot that slowly drives me insane! Oh wait, I started that way. No worries then, I shall do it.

m-matiastemple

Speaking of Matias, I’ve also been meaning to show you this nice oldschool sailor-art Gypsy girl portrait that he cut over top of a black field of ink. I think it will work especially well due to the stars that sit in the negative space surrounding the canvas of the scarification.

m-ratascar

And while I’m on the subject of scarification, I wanted to also show you this superb collar-piece “art scar” that Azl Kelly of Mtl Tattoo created as part of a “aesthetic beheading performance”. There’s a lot to be said for really pure designs. There’s a school of thought among many writers that the less words you can use to completely and effectively describe something, the better. Now, I’ve never been particularly good at that — I’m so redundantly wordy and repetitive that you could Swiss-cheese a print out of my essays with a machinegun and effectively understand what I was saying from the tatters that are left. Azl on the other hand has figured out how to speak volumes with a single incision.

m-azlscar1t m-azlscar2t m-azlscar3t

And, well, since I’m doing the “this things reminds me of this thing” game with this long entry, let me add two more implants, both swastika implants under a black tattoo, which visually makes them “pop” even more because of the way the light hits it. The one on the left, in the forearm, is the work of Samppa Von Cyborg, who you know well of course. The one on the right, the implant on the top of a hand, is by an artist you may not know quite as well, Hugo Ferreira of Biotek Toulouse in France. The arm is fresh in the photo, and the hand is about a month old.

m-swasimp1t m-swasimp2t

PS. I apologize for the crap image quality in this entry — I accidentally overcompressed. I’m really having “one of those days” as the old saying goes.

Star Horns

I like these star-shaped horns that have been perfectly placed underneath the wearer’s tattoos, I think adding some “intentionality” to a tattoo mix that otherwise looks a bit haphazard. This photo is from Ministry Tattoo Studio of Buenos Aires, Argentina at the El Tucuman Tattoo Festival, and the implants were done by Matias at Rata Body Art in Buenos Aires, Argentina

starhorns

Where in the world is Rob?

You may have noticed it’s been a little quiet here.  Rob is dealing with some medical issues and hasn’t been able to post anything to ModBlog for a few days.  It seems we’re all experiencing medical issues lately or maybe we’re just getting old!  Rob should be back at it by tomorrow.

Here’s a tattoo that caught my eye.  It was inked by Cliff Ziegler of Zebra Tattooz in Streetsboro, Ohio.

bme

I think it’s the way the raven is staring the viewer down that caught my eye.  Maybe I should have titled this “Fuck you,” said the Raven.
(points for whoever guesses that quote first)

Lost on the Edge of the Wasteland

Here’s a great photo from photographer Paul Jobes, with piercings by the Skin Seamstress herself, Zombieprincess.  It looks like she threaded the end of the feathers into the ends of the play piercing needles, giving the model, Raeven Irata, the look of a fallen angel with broken wings.

The BMEShop is having a sale right now!

30% EVERYTHING!!

Just use the code 30offbme when you check out!

For love of air

If there is one thing anyone who has suspended will tell you, it’s a feeling you can’t put into words.  Leaving the earth behind and lifting up into the air is only the beginning of an experience that many ModBlog readers love.  Check out this photo that deppravaditah sent in.

This photo, and the rest of the ones uploaded to the suicide suspension gallery all show a person extremely happy to be doing something that means the world to them.

Matias “Rata” Tafel y La Negra from Argentina is the one who threw the hooks for this suspension.