Interview with Clod The Ripper, the Italian tattoo artist among the best known. This artist is known for his black-and-white, realistic style confined to the world of horror from which he often draws inspiration for his works on skin. Icons of the genre or skulls are among his most popular subjects.
A: Who were you before you became Clod the Ripper?
B: Well, what I have always been and still am, a metalhead musician and sick of horror movies!
A: What drew you to this art form?
B: I liked and like to see people heavily tattooed, I like to feel different from the crowd; unfortunately, things have changed now... everyone is tattooed... I will probably start tattooing my internal organs too ahahahh
A: You play bass in death metal bands, so you love this kind of music. What are the metal bands that drive you crazy?
B: Too many to list, but definitely Suffocation (I have my right hand tattooed with the cover of their first record), but I also listen to a lot of doom...
A: Do you have other passions besides tattooing and the love of music?
B: Horror movies (I especially love the 80s ones) and chocolate.
A: In your opinion, could tattooing be considered a new recognized art form?
B: It is! Whether there are those who do not want to recognize it is their own problem....
A: Your stage name comes from Jack the Ripper. Why did you choose this pseudonym? You are a fan of serial killer movies I guess.
B: I am sick about serial-killers, perhaps also because of some past experiences that marked me in no small way.... Jack the Ripper is universally recognized as the first serial-killer of the modern era, that's all.
A: What is your relationship with horror cinema? What do you think are the best horror films? What does a horror film have to have to appeal to you?
B: Blood and violence! I love splatter movies and 80s horror films; I'm sick for zombies and I love the predictable stories with a group of guys who find themselves in an isolated chalet where then the classic house carnage happens and the protagonists always go upstairs rather than leave the house, hahahah.
A: What is the relationship between tattooing and horror cinema?
B: I have my entire right leg dedicated to horror movies, so I would say that horror cinematography gives lots of ideas for great tattoos!
A: What is your style? How has it evolved over the years?
B: I do black n grey realistic/occult tattoos.
A: What subjects are most in demand by genre film fans?
B: The classic portraits of the protagonist of that movie or the other. And don't think that Jason or Freddy will dominate, because cultists like to search among the more niche films...
A: Do you accomplish everything that is requested of you? Have you ever refused to perform a tattoo? If yes, why?
B: You should be answered by the hundreds of people to whom I say no on a daily basis. I am very selective with the clientele, we are practically a cult....
A: What is the tattoo you would like to make to give free rein to your imagination?
B: I am blessed to unleash my imagination practically every day because of my clients who are the top and I would never change one client of mine for ten clients of someone else!
A: What do you draw inspiration from for your tattoos?
B: Everything! Movies, books and illustrators, views, glimpses, but also the simple reflection of light on the sink!
A: What should a perfect customer look like?
B: With problems and a desire to share them with me.
A: Tell me about your first tattoo and your last one.
B: The first one I performed was obviously on me, January 20, 2000; 14 years ago and it seems like yesterday.... The last one does not yet exist.
A: December 2, 2013 marked the end of 13 Victims of the Serial-Tattooist, a photo exhibition designed by you to celebrate your 13 years in the business. How did this idea come about and what does this event consist of?
B: I decided to celebrate my 13 years in the business by capturing 13 alternative models strapped into the back of my pickup truck. Each individual photo is the same as the previous one to represent seriality and they are all paginated Polaroid style, as if taken by a serial predator for his own morbid purposes.
Each girl symbolically represents my clientele from that specific year of my career.
A: Are you satisfied with the result obtained?
B: Very much so! In addition, the photographer (Stefania Villani), graphic designer (Federica Galli) and writer (Vincenzo Trama) who collaborated with me were fantastic and I will never stop thanking them for the great job they did along with the models who were really professional and helpful.
A: Also gracing the already enticing exhibition was a live burlesque performance. What is the relationship between the burlesque world and the tattoo world?
B: Well very often the girls who perform in burlesque shows are tattooed, so the two worlds often intertwine.
A: Can you give a summary of the evening for those who couldn't be with you?
B: Their problems... hahahah
A: How does it feel to see your works on beautiful female bodies?
B: The same effect it has on me as on any other person! It's a tattooed piece of meat!
Unfortunately when you tattoo a person then you look at the tattoo with a different eye and you kind of ruin the rest of it... I don't know how to explain it...
A: Since 2010 you have been collaborating with Milan City Ink, one of the best-known tattoo studios in Italy. What has this experience transmitted to you? How has it changed your life?
B: Working at MCI is definitely one of the experiences that has grown me the most artistically and beyond.
It is a daily stimulus to improve and a great honor for me to be part of the team!
A: A message for the users of DarkVeins!
B: Always be yourself, with your flaws and differences! Never conform and always look at the dark side of life, so the rest will seem even brighter!
A: Thank you Clod!
