After discovering it on the job, Pauline Tabur has been devoting herself to her own interpretation of the Japanese style for seven years. In a colourful and naive form, the 37-year-old tattoo artist, based in the French city of Nantes, reproduces motifs from popular imagery and Japanese folklore that she offers in the form of flashes. Curious and a jack-of-all-trades, Pauline explores other fields of the archipelago's crafts, discovering a variety of techniques and manual skills in which she finds a certain poetry.
You have been interested in the Japanese style for seven years, how did you come into contact with it?
Through the studio where I started nine years ago. Dago, from Nuevo Mundo - with whom I learned - was tattooing arms and backs in Japanese and it was, quite naturally, a topic of conversation at the shop. During the Mondial du Tatouage in Paris (which took place at 104 in March 2013,) I bought a book by Hokusai which I copied a lot. Slowly, I went from a black work style - for which I wanted to do tattooing - to a more traditional and colourful style. I've been doing it for seven years now.
Until recently, Japanese tattooing was associated with manly body suits, but in recent years we've seen a different approach to the style, with flash patterns done in a soft, naive graphic. Do you identify with this?
Yes, my work revolves around that. What I like in this "soft and naive" style is the positive side it reflects and I respect these small formats that allowed me to learn to tattoo. I imagine that the vision of Japanese tattooing has evolved on the western side, an opening has been created and it has become more accessible to the majority. Now people collect Japanese flashes like the traditional American ones. Beyond tattooing, there is a very big fashion phenomenon on Japan since a few years. Customers have more knowledge and have become more familiar with their culture. In fact, more Japanese flash tattoos are being done, more are being posted on Instagram and they are becoming more popular. Little by little people are willing to do bigger pieces with the backgrounds and it's not considered "manly" anymore, at least from my point of view.
Can you tell us about your influences?
When I first started Instagram, I discovered Japanese tattoo artists like Bunshin Horitoshi who offered Japanese in flash form. This was very important to me as I was a young tattooist and it was not an option to start with a full back to learn how to tattoo. It seems obvious today but at that time - this is my impression - this style was not really represented in flash form in France and I didn't know how to approach it. So I combined what I was learning with Dago and what I was seeing on social networks. The discovery of Bunshin Horitoshi's work had a huge influence on my way of approaching things, it led me to other tattoo artists such as Bunshin Horimatsu, Bunshin Horiyen, Horiken, Horikyo, Horitaka or Horifuku, who still remain my basic references.
Why ?
I like this style with wide striped backgrounds with slightly "cute" representations of animals and characters. It's very effective. Tattoo artists like Horifuku, for example, are able to simplify any design, something that is very important to make a good tattoo. In a completely different style, I have a lot of admiration for the work of Horitsune II, his tattoos are incredible! Even if his backgrounds are very different there are similarities, like his peonies for example. This style is coming back quite a bit at the moment I feel. I love her book "Bunshin II" (now out of print), the vibe of the old photos, it's super vintage and the tattoos look like 1960s tapestries. That's what inspires me now, I'd like to use his colours. He uses for example a blue that mixes really well with the yellow, and the green, it's very nice. If someone wants to sell his book, contact me!
Is doing Japanese for you a graphic exercise or are you interested in Japanese culture in a broader sense?
First of all it was a graphic exercise. Simply because I have a lot of pleasure in reproducing this style. Then I became more interested in the culture and obviously in the crafts. I am particularly fond of Otsu-e, these images of great simplicity originating from the town of Otsu (located near Kyoto), which are coarser and more naive than ukiyo-e. I even tried to reproduce this printing technique, made from stencils. It seems to me that there is only one family left that produces them today. There is a shop in Otsu, and I would really like to go there. Recently I discovered a video of an old lady in Japan who dyes noren (Japanese curtains) and it's beautiful! Of course I wanted to try it and I'm preparing a small series of short and longer noren, we'll see the result. In the field of dyeing, there is also suminagashi which is very popular at the moment and quite easy to do. I admire their know-how and the poetry that comes out of it.
Your graphic approach is simple, legible and is close to popular arts such as prints but also to everyday objects. Can you tell us about them?
The everyday objects that you talk about are those that are regularly found in flash or associated with compositions. They sometimes have a spiritual or religious value. They are good luck charms like the uchide no kozuchi, a small hammer which, when shaken, achieves what you wish. It is part of the Takara Zukushi treasure, like the hoju (or Hoshu) which grants wishes. There is also the kinnou, a small bag that contains precious objects - coins or incense - or scrolls of teachings that represent wisdom and knowledge etc. These are images that are frequently seen worn on clothing for happy occasions such as weddings or the New Year and have been, I imagine, simplified for weaving or embroidery. It's a very interesting source of graphic inspiration and these designs are classics in tattooing.
In ukiyo-e prints, are there any schools that you prefer to others?
I mainly look at the Torii school. Their characters are less complex than those found around 1800, much less detailed. The movement of the clothes are understandable. Artists from this period like Kiyomasu I and II use flat blacks and few colours, I find it very beautiful and more applicable to tattooing than the later period. I try to reproduce the legs and arms in the shape of a "gourd" which characterizes this period.
Is the search for authenticity important in what you do?
Yes, I try to do my best in my graphic approach, that is to say to understand the movements, the forms which make that one draws something Japanese. I try to hide the "western line" which catches up with me quickly if I am not concentrated. Authenticity also means knowing the combination of elements that you are going to tattoo and I document myself for that, even if a week later I have forgotten everything! I have a memory that doesn't work very well (laughs), so I have to constantly re-read and re-study to avoid mistakes.
You work with a very limited colour palette, because you want to stay close to a certain tradition?
Yes, I do. At the beginning, I tried a lot of different colours to have fun. Then when I discovered old tattoos and read about them, I realised that more sobriety would allow me to be closer to the tattoos I like to look at. Also, I find that the colours are best displayed when they are more restrained and surrounded by black and grey. This has the effect of calming the image a little and making the design more readable.
Among the Japanese masters - be they artists, painters, tattoo artists - are there any you invariably return to?
Bunshin Horiyen is my constant reference and that has never changed. I could keep only this artist and I would be happy. The backgrounds, the colour placement and the way he draws, everything is incredibly beautiful.
You've opened an instagram account dedicated to flash on which you show more ambitious projects - like arms - available through painting. Are traditional body suits a goal for you?
Yes, it is my goal. Of course it's an experience I would like to have. I would be happy and proud to be able to do it. It's a question of patience. Now that I've settled down for good somewhere I'll be able to work on bigger projects. + IG : @paulinetabur @paulinetaburflash
