I’ve Spent Years Perfecting Ornamental Tattoos, And Here Are 30 Of My Favorite Pieces

Step inside Istanbul’s Rüstem Pasha Mosque and you’ll find walls covered in Iznik tiles painted with tulips, depicted on an Iznik tile from the Rustem Pasa Mosque, Istanbul, 1563, a flower that had become a common motif on Iznik ceramics by the 1530s. None of those patterns is the “main subject,” yet without them the space would feel bare. I think about that a lot when I tattoo.

Ornamental tattooing draws on a long line of traditions, from Islamic tessellations, Celtic knotwork, Vedic yantras to mandalas, and as a modern tattoo style, it emerged prominently in the 2010s, when artists began sharing intricate geometric work with the world online. At studio in Cihangir I use it to complete a design rather than simply decorate it: a portrait gets a medallion-like frame, a tulip gets a tiled backdrop, and an angel on the shoulder gets rings that follow the curve of the joint.

The tools themselves are simple: thousands of carefully placed dots for depth, fine lines for delicacy, and mirrored symmetry for calm. Used well, they make a tattoo feel as if it was always meant to sit exactly where it does. Here are 30 of my favorite pieces that show how.

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