Mt1 — INK: A black river runs through
Kira Petrasch - the Leipzig-based artist behind Nein Tattoo - is pushing inkwork to new depths
WORDS BY BRONTE CRONSBERRY
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
Sitting for a tattoo presupposes a degree of vulnerability on the part of the client and, in turn, trust in the artist. Leipzig-based tattoo artist Kira Merle Petrasch (Nein Tattoo) has realised this interwoven relationship between clients, their bodies, and her work as the centrepoint of her practice. Her free-flowing freehand tattoos are delicately traced to conform to the contours of the sitter’s body and are often shaped by the posture that the sitter finds most comfortable while Petrasch is working.
Petrasch’s journey to being a full-time tattoo artist — touring bespoke and makeshift parlours across the world — is a uniquely modern, albeit unconventional, way to convene with eager clients. She originally studied humanities in college and began tattooing as a creative connection with friends. Soon came increasing demand for her winding stylized lines, and the Instagram page she created eventually ramped up to a full-time tattoo practice with an international reputation for a full-body approach to tattooing.
Simultaneous to her tattoo practice, Petrasch is also invested in washing out the stain of misogyny and sexism within tattoo culture. In 2021, she put out a call for women to share their experiences with feeling uncomfortable or unsafe in tattoo spaces and then adapted those accounts into a podcast. As tattoos become more prevalent among people from all walks of life, efforts such as these are increasingly important to ensure that getting a tattoo is the empowering experience that it has the potential to be, particularly for women. — www.neintattoo.com | @alwaysnein
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