The 8th Annual Ink-N-Iron Tattoo and Kustom Culture Festival hit Long Beach, California, this past weekend, using the legendary Queen Mary as the backdrop along with a flock of men with facial tattoos, cabaret dancers and pole aerialists. This unique festival not only showcases the work of tattoo artists from around the world, but also live music, art shows, burlesque girls, pin stripping, vintage cars and motorcycles and even a pin-up girl contest.

Taking up three levels of the Atrium Exhibit Hall inside the ship, close to 300 tattoo artists from 30 states and 25 countries were onsite representing tattoo styles from Sailor Jerry to Japanese Tebori tattoos. From Sweden to New Jersey, the best of the best were busy tattooing. Some patrons waited a year just to be permanently inked by their favorite tattoo artist.

“We had over 20,000 people visit the festival this year,” says Trace Edwards of Keen Entertainment, one of the event producers. “The return of the bumper cars were definitely a standout, hosting the Buzzcocks and Detroit Cobras was outstanding. The Kulture Klash artshow was a smash hit and Dr. Sketchy’s broke their own record. This year was the busiest the tattoo convention component has ever been.”

Music and Rides

This year, the car show was hosted by Cavaliers Car Club and featured hand-picked pre-1963 custom cars. Three different music stages hosted a wide range of musical acts such as Adolescentes, Fishbones, The Vandals and The Paladins. Big and small bands alike are excited to be a part of the festival. I spoke with Justin Flag of Anti-Flag after their set who told me “I love playing crowds like this. It’s incredible!”

Words by Beth Lyden

You’re an American expatriate in Paris.  Tell us about why you chose to live in Paris, and how it influences your work.
I think there was nowhere else I could live and work, long-term. Paris fascinates; it’s a city that’s always wishing it was the center of the universe, and it has a way of being kind to artists. I came to study painting, and found the inspiration I was looking for, not in the art schools but elsewhere, in the people, in the atmosphere of a city that’s all about serendipity.

One of your latest bodies of work has focused around anatomical studies, where fashionable beauties peel back layers of their skin.  What are your influences and motivation for these pieces?
I have always been fascinated by human anatomy. What interests me most is the outrageous medical mistakes made over history- the poetic misunderstandings of the roles of different organs, for instance. The body is a mysterious landscape that we go on discovering, and never fully know. The artist once had his place alongside the anatomist in the dissecting room, and this is reflected by the beautiful illustrations of medical tomes in the 17th and 18th centuries, where flayed bodies showed themselves off in near-erotic poses, wearing pearls and beautifully styled hair. They are instructive and serve also as a memento mori, a reflection on mortality. For me this imagery was a perfect starting point for a series of “Anatomical Venus” self-portraits in which one can peer into the wide-open body. A self-portrait is intimate by nature, but exposed organs create an ultimate kind of intimacy.

You’re an accomplished costumer who makes a yearly splash at the Venetian carnival, widely considered to be the Olympics of extreme costuming.  What are your thoughts on costume, glamor and disguise.
Anything worth doing is worth doing glamorously, including day-to-day life. There is no down-time; one’s clothing is an extension of the personality. If one is an artist, than one has no excuse not to dress up, and if one is a working bee, one can compensate for it by dressing up. It’s not about being seen, it’s a matter of self-respect. I have my own taste for costume and fashion, but I love diversity in others, as long as it’s visually extreme.

Your training includes stints studying Tibetan icon painting, Rococo wigs, Renaissance oils.  How do you bring together these diverse influences in your work?
Tibetan painting taught me to love tiny details, Rennaisance technique taught me patience (waiting at least one year before varnishing a painting!) and Rococo wig-styling taught me that “too much” is never enough. The hairstyle can always be bigger, the costume more fabulous, the art more complex.

You’ve been invited to a mysterious costume ball in Constantinople to party with the Marchesa Casati, Beau Brummel and Aleister Crowley.  But you have only one hour to get a costume together.  What do you do?
Here’s hoping that the Casati is the one throwing the party. I’d make a run for the costume closet (18th century black Venetian gown, sorry Brummel) and accessorize with tons of jewels and a snakebite kit, as the Marchesa tended to wear live snakes, and snakes will strike at glittery things.  One should always be prepared.

See more of Sorrel’s work at http://sorrelsmith.com/

Words and interview by Molly Crabapple

The costume planning began immediately upon the theme’s inception. I already had everything necessary to pull off a vamped-up Margarita, but one of my favorite scenes in the book called for full nudity. Since I want prepared for that degree of exhibitionism the next best thing was a flesh-tone mesh catsuit, which I festooned with strategically-placed rhinestones. Ales made a dashing and appropriately tortured Master, roughed up for the occasion by several days’ worth of facial hair and sleep deprivation. With Nik Sin as our evil feline companion, we took the makeshift stage on Saturday night to a booming soundtrack meticulously compiled by emcee John Leavitt, and a Moscow skyline behind us courtesy of Tim Kellin and his lightning-fast pencil. It was my favorite Sketchy’s session ever, made sweeter still by the lightning speed with which Molly’s dedicated art monkeys constructed the stage, produced props and and pulled the whole beast together. More photos of our shenanigans and vigorous sketching below, with fond thanks to: emcee Syd Bernstein, project manager and super-woman Melissa Dowell, helpers Ruth Kim, Beth Stevenson, Hilary Beck, Foley, photographer Justin Lussier, and videographer Keith Jenson.

Words by Zoetica Ebb.  Photos by Kate Black

On Sunday night, Los Angeles saw a long-awaited re-launch of its Dr. Sketchy’s division at Billy Shire Fine Arts in Culver City. The model: flame-haired fetish darling, Scar. The wardrobe:  deadly  platform stilettos and three changes of sleek latex by Fierce Couture. In attendance: Michael Hussar, Shag, Miss Mindy, Tim Biskup and many talented artists who came to support, drink and draw. Arsenals were mighty and diverse – charcoal,  pastels, graphic pens and watercolors are just some of the trade’s tools I saw brandished in Scar’s direction. Surprises and giveaways helped celebrate the occasion, with a Spencer Davis Booty Babe figurine as the grand prize and Robert of Baby Tattoo modeling for a Michael Hussar-judged contest. Outside, a burlesque cutie tended bar in full costume and impressed guests with her take on the margarita.

I’m left with a reinforced hope for community in the Los Angeles art arena and excited for the rest of the summer: future Dr. Sketchy’s nights are already in the works. On June 21st LA residents can join the excitement  at Medusa Lounge from 7 to 10 PM. Hone your skills and mingle at subsequent Sketchy’s sessions on the first Sunday of every month at Billy Shire Fine Arts, and the third Sunday of every month at Medusa Lounge.

Words and photos by Zoetica Ebb