Jee Sayalero, owner of Human Fly and his team welcome us in the center of Madrid under a superb sun. A private workshop, a bit away from the crowds. A quiet, spacious place, lots of frames giving the feeling of being in a gallery and a sunny little courtyard for breaks. The studio's really enjoyable. Human Fly, wink to a super villain created by Marvel Comics in the seventies, sure is a good thing to have a thousand eyes to admire the team’s work.
Jesus Sayalero aka Jee, born in 1975 at Barquisimeto in Venezuela, stays there for 23 years and in 2002, after studying illustration, decides to enter a comic book school in Angoulême in France but unfortunately it doesn’t feel fulfilling. So having tattooed for a bit in Venezuela, he opts to seek work in that field. The shop « Will Tattoo » hires him. He alternates between tattooing and his studies during the same year. After a year in Angoulême, Jee participates in the famous Barcelona Tattoo convention (which will celebrate its Twentieth edition at the end of september 2017). There he meets Safwan (Imago Tattoo in Montreal), Steph D. and Dimitri Hk (Saint Germain en Laye, France) who will allow him to do guest spots in their shops. Jee will travel around for nearly three years between France, Canada, England at Mo Coppoletta and of course Venezuela to see his family. He likes Montreal and would have liked to move in the country of Hockey and poutine, but the steps to immigrate to Canada with his wife Ana, are too hard. Therefore, Spain seems more simple and his double nationality (Venezuelan and Spanish) allow him to move. The couple settles in 2007 at Las Rozas, a nice district of Madrid. A few years later in 2015, worn out from the work in a classical shop, he opens his own private workshop, where he still works to this day.
Jee, like many other artists, starts exploring every style with various influences such as illustrations like James Jean, comics, animated cartoons, or even tattoos by Filip Leu or Bernie Luther. While staying in London, he discovers Kyosai’s work (Japanese artist from the 19th century) in an art exhibition at the national gallery which will influence him to this day. Specialised in asian iconography and culture, his style sails between Hayao Miyazaki and Kyosai. His tattoos are inspired by Japanese tales, yokais, dragons and other mystical creatures. He now finds his references and influences in more oriental artists, like Nakajima Kaho (japanese artist from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century) or in the Ukiyo-e artistic movement from the Edo era, current which originated from the « kabuki » theater, the « yokais » (fantasy creatures) and the « Shunga » (erotic scenes). In 2014, the tattooer Kinky Ryusaki, invites Jee to take part in a tattoo convention in China. He’ll take advantage of the event to make contacts. A new oriental adventure begins and so he participates in numerous conventions and seminars, most notably at the Singapore Ink last april. The conquest of Asia starts for him ; Japan, China, Taiwa, Hong-Kong and the roundtrips to Madrid, never stop.
A missed opportunity in France: Jee tells us « When i arrived in Paris for the first time, i had already seen Tin-Tin’s work in tattoo magasines, which i admired. So i went to visit his shop. The reception was really nice, he was bare-chested, said a lot of jokes, a good atmosphere. I told him my experience, Tin-Tin took the time to listen, check my work and kept my contact details. Six months later, he asked me to work in his shop, i had already found a place and i had to refuse. » Jee will still do a lot of trips to France for conventions and « guest spots ». He has a faithful clientele and speaks french really well.
On top of having a big cultural baggage, the travelling tattooer is as creative as he is curious. It can be seen in his illustrations, but also in his way to develop merchandising ideas. Go see his stand at a convention, it’s always wonderfully decorated and stocked with a ton of books, tee shirts, prints etc… Jee is, as far as i know, the first tattoo artist to publish a sketchbook, idea that has been taken on by many other artists since. With his wife Ana, they created their own publishing house: Mother Fly Press. He also organises lots of seminars in Madrid and at many events, everywhere across the globe, maintaining a truly active life.
Jee Sayalero gathered a high quality team to run « Human Fly ». There’s the inner shell, friends from long ago : Joako and Will Wonka. Joako, accompanied him since the beginning of the adventure and practices a style of tattoo which is between japanese, traditional american and new school. Extreme sport enthusiast, Joako does team skydiving, an impressive hobby for his "down time". Wonka all smiles and dreadlocks, started at Human Fly in 2010. He developed his own style, very graphic and colored with a dash of cubism. More recently, in 2015, Prada joined the team. Graphic Artist, he practices « dotwork » and specialises in mandalas and geometric drawings. Human Fly also welcomed a great number of guests and resident tattooists since the beginning. Which is to be expected for a studio of such reputation.
The Human Fly team participates in conventions all around the world (London, Barcelona, Singapour, « Le Mondiale du Tatouage » in Paris etc). Don’t hesitate to visit them, they’re always happy to chat and meet tattoo aficionados. Thank you and a good journey to the whole team. humanflytattoo.com facebook: Humanflystudio facebook: Jee Sayalero instagram: humanflytattoo instagram: jeesayalero instagram: joakotattoo instagram: tattoobywonka instagram: prada_tattoo Report DHK, trad James Chancé
Well I'm a human fly I, I said F-L-Y I say buzz buzz buzz And it's just becuz I'm a human fly And I don't know why I got 96 tears and 96 eyes I got a garbage brain That's drivin' me insane And I don't like the ride So push that pest aside And baby I won't care 'Cuz baby I don't scare 'Cuz I'm a reborn maggot using germ warfare Rock! I'm a human fly I said F-L-Y I say bzz bzz bzz And it's just becuz I'm an unzipped fly And I don't know why And I don't know why But I say Bzzzzzzz Rock tonight, and I say Bzzzzzzz Rocket ride, and I say Bzzzzzzz But I don't know why Aw, I just don't know why... (« Human fly » lyrics by The Cramps)
