Interview with Blodloth: Tattoos and expressing the self, body, gender and sexuality
Zu, known as Blodloth chatted to The Good Fight about their inspirations for their ‘dark works’ themed around nature and demons, and their expressions of self, body, gender, and sexuality.
Hey Zu! Tell us a little about yourself?
I'm originally from Poland, but have been living in the UK for the last 10 years. I've been drawn to all things strange and unusual, and I have quite a collection growing in my own home, and what I can't collect I can draw.
Can you tell us about your style and how it developed over time?
I've done all sorts of art all my life, I went to uni to study illustration and that's when I discovered pointillism. When it comes to tattooing, my first few years of working were a constant battle between what I wanted to do and what work I could find. I was still learning a lot and developing my technical skills, heavily focusing on line-work. But I'd say my style didn't fully develop until the last two years, when I was finally in a place to truly create what I wanted.
These days I'm fascinated by dynamic, flowing shapes, and textures. I also started to use my work to explore myself, my body, my gender, and my sexuality, but it's all a work in progress.
Who are your Tattoo heroes and influences for your work?
I've always been inspired by Alfonse Mucha, and I find it fascinating how many different tattoo styles are influenced by him and Art Nouveau in general. When I was at uni, my first big contemporary inspiration was John Dyer Baizley, it amazed me the way he combined dark themes with beauty and vibrant colour.
In my own work I stick to blackwork, but I adore all sorts of artists, among my faves would be Grindesign, Andrzej Lipa, Kate Selkie, Vlad Ov Thelema, Nicola Asura, Lauren Marx, Maytics, Crap Panther, and many, many more.
What are your favourite tattoos to do?
I would say anything that revolves around nature and death, also weird things like birds with too many eyes or horns or anything else you want to add. And then there's the nudity, I've grown particularly fond of curvy naked demons.
