Fashion

tattoo of the week: artist gliffics

By Safety Pins
November 19, 2012

I first learned about Gliffics when I came across his Dexter inspired music video, “Call Me Crazy”. Once I saw this hip/hop artist from Brooklyn, NYC and his band mosh in a warehouse, dressed in blood splatter analyst suits, surrounded by body bags and blood…I was hooked. Gliffics is an artist who cares about the details which results in original visuals that matches his unique flow. His music is honest which keeps him out of the box and that is refreshing. It really comes as no surprise to me that his two tattoo sleeves are far from simple; one sleeve captures his roots of Egypt and NYC and his other sleeve outlines the journey of manhood. Gliffics’ ink reveals how his introspective nature makes him a great storyteller and it proves to be true in his music. To submit your tattoos for Tattoo Of The Week, send pictures + answers to the questionnaire below to mika@afropunk.com.

By Mika Kenyah, CEO of Sugar & Spikes
www.Facebook.com/MikaKenyah

-Name: Gliffics 

-Age: 27

-City: Brooklyn

-Occupation: Musician

-How many tattoos do you have? 2 half sleeves

-Which one is your favorite? Although they’re two different styles I like them both equally.
 
-Why?  Because of what they mean to me, on my left outside four arm I have the sunset over a New York City skyline and on the inside four arm I have the sunrise over the Sphinx and the three great Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt. They blend together on one end by sand and water and on the other by a galaxy that looks similar to the famous “Starry Night” Van Gogh painting.  Those two views are my favorite in the world and both places that are rooted to me.  
On my right, I have a spiral stair case wrapped around my four arm. From the bottom up I have a new born crawling up to what appears to be a business man and finally at the top to a Buddhist monk that has approached the mother of all pearls which is my representation of heaven. They each have one of the 3 wise monkeys as their guardian angels (Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil) which are a Japanese representation of the “life cycle” and have incorporated Confucius’s code of conduct. The tattoo was also inspired by the great riddle of the Sphinx; What crawls on four legs in the morning, walks on two legs in the afternoon and walks on three legs in the evening?  If answered incorrectly you would be killed, if correct you were able to pass.
The answer? Man.
 
-Why should we feature your tattoo? Because they’re both beautiful pieces of art that I guarantee you never seen anything like before and if thats not enough I have been told be several people who didn’t have tattoos that mine inspired them to go get their first. 

– How old were you when you first got your tattoo? I was a late bloomer getting my first sleeve at 22. I always knew that I wanted to go big for my tattoo and never really had the money to get it until i was more established. 

-Do you have a particular tattoo artist you go to? Yes, I go to Eric on Ave A and East 13th street in lower Manhattan. Eric is a really cool dude that wants what you want from your tattoo, he did both of mine and as long as he’s around he will likely do my 3rd. You should check out his work at www.inkstoptattoonyc.com 
 
 
Check out the video for “Call Me Crazy“
Words by Safety Pins

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