Background:

Kenji Stoll is a visual artist based in Tacoma, Washington. He currently works as a tattooer specializing in Japanese / American traditional. He's also interested in public art, murals, and community.

Description:

If you’ve gotten a tattoo in the last 40 years, gone to a beach, watched a sports game or a concert, chances are you’ve seen some form of these designs out in the wild called ‘modern tribal.’ What many people don’t know is that these designs were pioneered by a Filipino-American punk rock kid in the 1980’s named Leo Zulueta. What started as raw expression and artistic exploration soon took the world by storm, becoming insanely popular in the 1990's and early 2000's, covering brand logos, celebrities, and everything in between. Loosely inspired by other forms of tribal tattooing, this modern tribal style was embraced by people across cultural boundaries and laid the foundation for new styles of tattoo art like blackwork, sacred geometry, and cyber sigilism, while also raising awareness of many traditional indigenous tattooing practices.

What inspires me most about this work and why I think it’s a great fit for AANHPI heritage night is that it represents an unrecognized legacy of Asian American art and contributions to our society and culture. It exemplifies a uniquely hyphenated American experience of bridging two cultures and creating something new, now embraced around the world and carried on by people of all different cultural backgrounds. It’s a blend of past and present, tradition and innovation, and I think whether you love it or hate it, it’s truly timeless.