So I wanted to share a bit of what traveling means to me, why I do it, and the reasons I do it the way I do.
I am just coming back from a three-week mini tour in the United States of America. It is not the first time I have visited this country, it won’t be the last, and yet it always feels unreal. The fact that I get to live what my younger self could only dream of.
I have always made art. Since I was a child I wanted to be an artist. Visiting Charles Monet’s house in Giverny in Normandy, I told my parents that I would be a painter. A couple of decades later, I am tattooing and painting and making performance art, and whatever other creative project I can put my mind on getting done.
I have also always enjoyed travelling. Moving, exploring, discovering new things (to me) has always been a huge source of energy, and I have always enthusiastically embraced being transient. Travelling is movement and movement keeps me inspired.
Back to this trip, I want to share some highlights that I believe illustrate this feeling I am trying to put into words.
I started by landing in Chicago. I had been to Chicago once only, back in 2017. At the time I did not leave Logan Square. And although it was the only part of town I saw, the people I met were all so kind, making me appreciate this city greatly. On my last day there, as I was leaving, I crossed paths with someone I had not seen in years, someone that I had met in London in very different circumstances. and you know how it is when you take some people out of context, it can take a minute to place them again and realise who you are talking to. That was who came to be my dear friend Lilly. That was the time and place we truly connected and got to know each other and build what is now a strong friendship.
This time around I worked in a studio I had never stepped foot into: Ash & Ivory
Kelsey, Felipe and Anna co-own this shop and run a very welcoming environment. It is always a bit nervewrecking to start at a new place. There is a “first day of school” type of feeling that seems to always be there ahead of time. But this went away instantly, as I was made to feel at home right away. Once again I got blessed to have amazingly nice clients, wanting super cool projects. And once again serendipity struck. As my first day was ending, three folks walked in with the ease that tattooists and friends of the studio only have. Turned out one of them was none other than Sam, the person who founded Ash & Ivory. He was accompanied by Tyler, owner of Aviary studio in Detroit and Andrey from Moscow! I have been aware of those artists’ work for a bunch of years, following what they do on social media for a long time, and yet never had crossed paths in real life until now. Turns out they were in town for only a couple of days, and so was I. What were the chances these few days were the same? Once again, Chicago blessed me with analogue connections. What a treat to meet friends of friends and to click with new people.
After my guest spot I had booked myself a day off in Chicago and after visiting The Art Institute, on everyone’s advice, I took the river boat architecture cruise. It is rare that I do this kind of things, but since literally everyone I talked to recommended it, I went for it, and it did not disappoint. The guide was brilliant, and as an ex architecture student and architecture appreciator, it was definitely worthy. Downtown Chicago has got some great buildings!
Giacometti and the skyscrapers - nice summary of that day
From Chicago I flew in straight to Palm Springs, where the nice warmth we were enjoying in the midwest made place for a hot desert furnace. I do like the heat but that hit me in the face. This weekend was to visit the aforementioned friend Lilly, who's living her best life in small-town California. Got to spend a few days catching up, chilling, swimming, cuddling dogs, checking out Joshua Tree national park and eating some nice food (big up to Chef Tanya!) It had been a long time since I had felt so relaxed.
From Palm Springs we drove to Los Angeles, and after an attempt at grabbing brunch at Crossroads on Melrose, we decided to go all in with the LA experience and made our way to Erewhon. I could not bring myself to drop $25 on a shake, but experiencing the influencer sitting next to us, doing the live review on their phone of the three flavours they had got, to only throw them in the bin as soon as the content was created, was a lovely way to live vicariously. Sitting there, eating some healthy lunch, while watching the food delivery robots and Tesla trucks drive by, I knew I had arrived. LA let’s do this! (Sarcasm in there somewhere)
The LA week was slammed with work, starting at the new (to me) Strange Love location with a back piece for long term client Kevin. He had reached out enquiring on getting something inspired by the medieval church tomb brass rubbing, which I could not possibly pass on. So I came to town a day earlier than planned to make it happen.
The following days were spent in the studio, creating tattoos to adorn the skin of wonderful people, working alongside talented artists, in one of the most inspiring studio I got to work at in recent years. What Adam Vu Noir created here is truly special and goes beyond mere tattoo shop business. It is a beautiful curation of people, community, art. Adam and I were living in Berlin a few years ago and spent most of our time in town hanging out. I always felt deeply inspired in his presence. His travel stories (he tattooed on all continents, including Antarctica, I mean come on!) and creativity made me want to do more always. So I did the most of being in LA and tattooed as much as I could. From 9-10am till the evening.
Once again, the people made it special. A mix of familiar faces and new ones, it was so good to feel the buzz and get energised. Someone I used to work with in London was also in town and in the studio that week. Once again, something that we hadn’t planned!
I had very little time to do much outside of tattooing in the studio but one night we got to go to the weirdest karaoke spot I have ever walked in (not that I am much of a connoisseur). Shrine karaoke in K Town is a faux Egyptian decor haunt, where you can order food from the Korean restaurant upstairs, and sing along with a group of friends to your favourite tunes. No need to say what was sang…what happens in Shrine stays in Shrine. It was really nice to meet other artists from other studios. And since serendipity is the theme of the trip, I feel like mentioning the following anecdote. One of the person in the party group was someone that we met working in the clothing shop my partner and I took a 40min ride to check out on the other side of town and happened to also be the tattoo studio manager’s partner. How ridiculously small is this world??
Enter at your own risks…
Los Angeles is known for its food, yet I only got to eat in nice restaurants twice. And ironically one of them was Italian and the other French… Come to the States and eat European food… In my defence, produce is so much better than in UK, Italian cuisine is a favourite of mine and it is a rarity to find French style vegan food. Pura Vita was amazing and approved by a native, even the tiramisu was deemed good (tough critic to please on this specific item.) The black magic truffle lasagna is also not to be missed. And Perle, although not all vegan had some delicious plant based options… Who knew I could enjoy a simple potato puree and onion soup that much?? That was a lovely way to enjoy the last night in sunny California. I also managed to catch up at the airport just before flying out with my friends Kim, Chris and Bea, sharing the first great coffee I had in California that time and some delicious vegan baked goods they had brought in to meet us up at the iconic LAX. So happy I could give them a hug.
From LA to NYC. To think that I can take this trip casually is still unreal.
And NYC is always a joy. This place feels like home the more time I spend in it. Some find the intensity of the place to be draining, I still find it energising. I feel very lucky for the friends in this city and the ability to be at ease in such place. Work was great, got to tattoo a few prior clients. I am really enjoying the returning customers, continuing discussions and getting to know each other better, as well as seeing healed pieces and getting life updates. Great chats, great tattoos, great fun. It was short but sweet at Tiger Town, thanks to the wonderful crew.
I then had some time off to go and visit a few galleries, amongst which is Calvin Morris, one of my all time favourites. It was so good to see their space and to discover artists such as Nicole Frobusch and Simone Pellegrini. The main reason I wanted to go was also to see some Gregory Van Maanen in person, and it did not disappoint. The work is amazing. The front is the main show, but the back of the paintings is what interests me more. IYKYK.
Leaving Calvin Morris, since I was in Chelsea I went into a few different galleries and one show took me by surprise. I knew nothing of the space or the artist, just walked in and felt the energy of the work right away. It was dense, loaded, beautifully meditative, calm, chaotic, complex and simple all at once. I was especially not ready for it as my last visit to Chelsea galleries had been witnessing a succession of boringly commercial decorative pieces for safe rich homes. This show however was noteworthy. Iria Leino at Harper’s is a presentation of works that were done as a part of her private Buddhist meditative practice. I knew nothing of it before but this series of paintings are bearing that weight, that only a deep spiritual approach can have. Art for me needs that “je ne sais quoi” that provokes emotions; that impalpable, undefinable element that leaves you a bit lost for words, that brings you out of your body and grounds you at the same time. And both the galleries named here provided some of this to me.
Iria Leino at Harper’s
Another similar experience happened on that trip twice. Both times in the same space but at different times and with different mediums. I was lucky enough to experience Clarice Jensen’s music live once again. Last time was in London at Iklectik and a few times prior at the prestigious and favourite of mine music venue that is the Barbican concert hall. This time Clarice was performing at Public Records, opening for Chuck Johnson. And both artists put on a wonderfully mesmerising show. The cello always gets me, but the way Clarice plays is especially moving and transcendental as the listener. On the other hand, I purposefully did not listen to Chuck’s music ahead of the gig, as I like to be surprised. And I am so glad I chose to do this. The wall of sound produced by such calm music is hard to understand. How can this music rattle my bones in a similar way that Sunn o))) did at the Barbican a few months earlier? Vibrating to the sound is something that will never get old. I loved going to raves and putting my head into the speakers when I was 14 years old, and ever since I have always enjoyed music that is truly physical, that you literally feel. I do not necessarily want to go spend a few days in the woods, and prefer a seated afternoon gig these days, but the chase is somewhat similar. And the room that Public Records built is also quite unique, and akin to some of the best concert halls I have been in, in terms of accoustic. There also I tasted for the first time sparkling coconut water and I need more…
Public Records also has a restaurant attached to it, and a few days later I managed to get a table there to share a meal with some close friends. The food was the best I had on this trip. It is all I enjoy, vegetables in their best forms, plants truly sublimed in complex, layered notes, healthy and just delicious. It is all I expected and more from the folks who designed the menu, my friends Jason and Lou, the people behind Stellar. Food brings me so much joy. And what a high note this is for the last dinner in New York this time around. Brooklyn did not disappoint once more.
The last day was spent eating a tofu cream cheese bagel, sipping some black cardamon orange blossom coffee, walking around Central Park in the sun, crossing paths with some pups ready to attend Tompkins Square halloween dog parade. But more importantly a group of natives performing in the street next to Union square was a reminder of who lived on the land we were walking on before the skyscrapers, the coffee shops, and all that.
And it was time to go back to spend time in London until the next move, and more serendipity I am sure.
