Mike Lopez
There are several different reasons I chose to begin to cover my body in tattoos. For one, I think tattoos are sick and I love the individuality that comes along with them. Being relatively introverted, I often find it hard to express myself. Through tattooing my skin with art, I can now express my internal self, externally, without having to even say anything at all. My tattoos make me feel extremely confident about my body now. My legs used to be my biggest insecurity, as they were always noticed for being so skinny. Two years ago before I started tattooing my legs, I honestly would have preferred to keep them covered. Now that they’re covered in art, I show them off with pride and oftentimes they are brought up positively in conversation.
I’ve always had a passion for art and using my body as a canvas has allowed me to design sleeves around different concepts that I create. I began my first sleeve taking inspiration from the symbolic nature of sacred geometry. It consists of three interweaving mandalas, paired with the fading Flower of Life which made all the different elements feel like one cohesive piece.
I began my second leg-sleeve by drawing inspiration from the ocean. To allow for more creativity, I wanted to play into the idea of the mystery behind the undiscovered depths. My sleeve is composed of a blowfish, a squid, a deep-sea diver, a mythological mermaid, and a coral reef to tie everything in.
Moving onto my arm, I wanted to compliment the deep sea by having a sleeve inspired by nature. I began my sleeve with a Japanese Maple tree that was outside of my old house in Philly. Following this piece, I filled my sleeve with Mother Nature, a moth, a spider hanging from a cherry blossom tree. and a snake throughout my forearm. Alongside this sleeve, is both of my parents’ handwriting of “Love” from notes they have written to me.
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