Bored Panda reached out to Pitta to ask him more about his creative process and himself. We got curious about how his journey as an artist started. Pitta shared that, at first, he was into body modification. But around the time he was 17 and had just entered an art high school, Pitta became interested in various subcultures related to piercing and body modification. "I noticed that many people who like body modification and subcultures also had tattoos. As an art major, tattoos became a great inspiration for me, and being a tattoo artist became a profession I wanted to pursue after being an artist."
Pitta's family has been Buddhist from his grandparents on. "I have been going to temples since I was a newborn, and this has naturally become an opportunity for me to bring Korean and Buddhist art into my artistic worldview as an artist. My work was a mixture of all the elements I liked, and it has continued to this day, leading to my current work."
We asked Pitta to share some of the most popular elements of Korean art and aesthetics. The artist replied that the representative colors are Obangsaek (오방색 : the five primary colors), Dancheong (단청 traditional Korean decorative coloring), and gold. "The five primary colors refer to the colors in all directions, and Dancheong is a traditional Korean decorative coloring on temples and palaces. Gold is the most commonly used color to represent a king in royal court art. Negative space, which is uniquely shown in Korean art history, also exists."
When asked about the challenges that Pitta faces when creating these mesmerizing tattoos, the artist replied that difficulties are always accompanied by creative activities. "Above all, it is now the most challenging to start and come up with new inspiration. After accumulating a career and going through numerous creative works, a new inspiration does not come to me as it did before. However, all these processes eventually come with joy. Creators live in agony, but it is reborn as the pleasure of creating beauty, which is endlessly repeated in the life of an artist."
How are these tattoos born? According to Pitta, in most cases, he listens to the general topic, size, location, and color scheme that the client wants. "However, they leave a lot to me. Above all, I make an effort to create a result without meaning. For example, the client might give information such as 'a blue dragon on the inner forearm the size of a palm.' The design is completed by combining the client's mood, actual body size, latest inspiration, and the direction of the art I am currently following."
"I think passion comes out above all when it is fun and enjoyable. I also become passionate when people like my work, but I enjoy my work the most when I feel visual pleasure in my own drawing, and I approach the work with a passionate attitude."
