Beijing Tattoo Artist Dong Dong reflects- A Sense of Focus.
2006 Mike McCabe

 

The historical architectural wonder of the Forbidden City is located at the middle of the cosmopolitan city of Beijing, China. As an impressive structure, it represents not only the center of the city but the center of the Universe for the Chinese people and their culture. Dynastic emperors lived inside its mysterious walls for thousands of years, secreted away from the outside world. The grand interior spaces and complex of buildings are meant to dwarf any concept of the self. Everything and everyone surrenders to this powerful symbol of a 5000 year old civilization.

There is continuity in Chinese culture that is impossible for an outsider to truly comprehend. A sense of integration of race, time and culture resonates with all Chinese. It is a deeply personal feeling that non-Chinese can only experience intellectually, not emotionally. An ancient Chinese expression says, “No matter how far from the land of our ancestors, we are still Chinese.”

Dong Dong has been tattooing in Beijing since 1996. He opened the first Mummy Tattoo www.mummy-tattoo.com several years ago and has moved three times in 4 years due to the disruptive development and construction underway in Beijing. His new shop located in a fashionable retailing building along San Li-tun bar-street is nicely organized with a rich collection of his drawings hanging on the walls. The lighting in the shop is soft, the music is complex and the atmosphere is sophisticated. Dong Dong has one of the best tattoo reputations in Beijing and his customers are an international mix of people who admire not only his technical ability but his artistic sensibility.

In recent years, tattooing has gone global and a cultural similarity has invaded the art form. Artists from different parts of the world now produce art that no longer speaks of regional diversity or stylistic variation but focuses instead on similar trendy images and influences. Tattooing as a modern art is relatively new in China and tattoo artists there wrestle with conflicting impulses to either follow tattoo image trends represented in western tattoo magazines or attempt to explore images from their own culture.

Today the novelty and power of the West is very real in a place like Beijing. Provocative, world media creeps into Chinese cosmopolitan life and urban youth who crave connection and validation are seduced by it. For many, a sense of global relevance is accompanied with the naïve surrender of native cultural forms.

As an artist Dong Dong has not lost a connection to his history and culture. He follows the work of several tattoo artists from America, Japan and Europe but he feels connected to the images and history of his culture.

“When I first started to become interested in tattooing in 1996, I knew about tattooing in Japan,” Dong Dong says. “Occasionally I saw photos of the style and it made me curious but I feel that I really learned about tattooing in China. When I was in High School and college, I studied interior and environmental art and this training has helped me with my drawing skill.

“I feel that the difficult thing for me as an artist is to develop new ideas,” he says. “I studied art and drawing and I feel good about my skills but now for me it is a question of developing ideas. When I attended the Paul Booth Beijing Tattoo Event (December 2004), I paid attention to how Paul worked. Before the event, I would look at Paul’s work and try to imitate the style at the same time that I was trying to express something uniquely Chinese. I learned that this is very difficult and not the correct way to develop my own style. I was trying to create something new but I was limited. I was only moving from drawing on paper to skin. I was only reproducing a style, not creating a style. I discovered that this does not interest me.

“I thought about the possibility of going beyond reproduction,” he continues. “I wondered if there was a way to create something uniquely Chinese using influences from Chinese Gong-bi and Xie-yi painting. At this point I am trying to experiment with this idea. I combine Gong-bi and Xie-yi techniques with western styles and Paul’s deep shading. I notice now that I am trying to combine things.

“I must have confidence in my efforts to learn and be influenced,” he says. “I feel an artist must have faith to move on. I keep to myself but I am also knowledgeable about other tattoo artists in China. I feel it is early in the process for Chinese tattooing. All I need is time to continue to develop.”

Dong Dong is aware of the creative problems associated with outside influences. They can knock an artist off base and push aside essential impulses to explore personal cultural imagery. The power of the West and all that comes with it is strong and disorienting. It is a challenge for young artists to remain centered in their esthetic sensibilities at the same time they must make efforts to grow. The cultural history of a place like China provides Dong Dong with a deep sense of integrity that can help to keep him centered.

“Tattooing continues to become popular in China,” Dong Dong says. “Tattoo artists here go in different directions as they look for ideas. For me, it is important to grow but it is also important for me to not lose a sense of myself. This is difficult in our world today. So many things compete for our minds… In China, we are dizzy from this competition in our head. There are so many images to look at… Even in China.

"Cities like Beijing and Shanghai have traditions but there is also a heavy influence from the West," he says. "This influence has power to create change… some good, some bad. People in the West might not understand this struggle. They are unaware of these conflicts that develop in the minds of people in different parts of the world. For people and particularly artists, it is hard not to become confused by all the images and then make the wrong choices."

“I keep working at my drawing. Every day, I am drawing,” he says. “It is like an internal world for me, this world of drawing. There are certain problems I work through and they keep me focused. Life is about remaining focused on the correct things and the process that has brought you to think about these things.”

Author’s note: I wish to thank Beijing writer, Zhou Deng Yan for her translation assistance. I also wish to thank China Association of Tattoo Artists President, Kisen for his help arranging this interview

Past articles by Mike McCabe

Jimmy Wong- Bangkok Past and Present and the Tattoos of Indochina. Part I
Jimmy Wong - The Changing Face of Bangkok Tattoo Part II
A Sukhumvit tattooer in Bangkok, 2001
The New York City Tattoo: The Origins of a Style