KUCHING: A local tattoo artist has made a name for himself at the international stage, winning five awards from London and Perpignan, France in 2018.
Eric Kueh, 38, said he started to have an interest in tattoo design since he was in secondary school, adding: “The first time I saw a tattoo up close was when my classmate got one from a studio. He had a tribal design on his ankle.”
“My first impression was that this was an artist who had managed to create a stylish design onto skin and from that moment, I was intrigued by how designs were created onto skin and body part,” he said when met at 71st Skin Slavery, where he operates his tattooing business.
Eric’s won the Best Black Grey, Best of The Show and Best of Sunday in London while in Perpignan, France, he won the Best Realistic and Best of The Show at the Perpignan Tattoo Convention last year.
He has also won tattoo competitions in countries such as the Netherlands, Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Nepal, India and Taiwan.
“Tattoo (business) has its own peak season. It depends on how frequent we have international or local events organised by the state, for example, the yearly Rainforest World Music Festival, and during this month, we received a lot of local and international customers,” he said.
He hoped that more events would be organised as this could boost the industry, and increase the numbers of visitors to the state.
Eric, who once worked as an operator at one of the factories here, said: “It’s fun working as a tattoo artist and I don’t find it tiring as I love the job.”
“When friends come over, we would discuss more on how to expand the tattooing market.
“I would like to advise the public not to look at this art industry negatively. People always associate tattoos with gangsterism.
“It’s an art form, and people’s perception needs to change,” he said.
He added that tattooing is one of many ways to bring one’s artistic imagination to the fore.
“I joined a lot of competitions and have used the opportunities to introduce Sarawak and its local tribal designs to other countries.”
He hoped that the state government would do more for the industry so that the talents of ‘Anak Sarawak’ would be there for all to see.
