What’s your name and where are you based?
Twan. Jon/Twan.
(the train goes by)
I’m based in Montreal.
Age?
I’m 24.
What’s one thing you think is lame and one thing you think is dope?
I don’t know if I actually think anything is lame I just like to complain. And then… I think… why am I like braindead right now? What do I think is dope? Can I say, like, nothing and everything? Is that valid? I feel like that’s too vague of an answer, but, yeah.
What are other artistic media that you care about?
I like sculpture, performance art, and music, obviously. Um, I don’t know, I feel like with respect to sculpture, it’s been so perfected… like, the limit to it is very obvious. And then like, in the fuckin Renaissance and shit, people figured out what that limit was, and got it, like, pretty on the dot of like, how can you perfect the human form, how can you perfect, like, perspective and shit, and all the people who were the best at that were like, all the people that knew the limit, and like, worked within it. But with stuff like, performance, or like video as well, or AI even, like internet art shit, the limit is always sort of, like, evolving… Which is interesting because you also get really shitty art as a result to that. Because people, like… theres no confine, which is really freeing, but also like, freeing in a bad way, where you can kinda just do bullshit and be like, oh this is so deep…
How do you create your best work/in what state do you feel the most inspired?
Either at 10 in the morning or at 3 AM. And when I have, like, a YouTube video about like, fucking… ancient Zoroastrianism and music playing, and I’m alone in my bedroom. Or at the studio, when someone just pulls up and we get along, and it’s like yeah, we’re just friends, we’re kicking it.
What matters the most to you during a tattoo appointment?
(Hits vape) Kicking it. (Long exhale) Being, umm.. becoming friends. I feel like within tattooing, it takes a certain kind of person to pull up, like especially within this, like, new style, and I always find I have some sort of thing either in common or that I can elaborate or talk about with people. Umm, and that’s sort of, like, bridges the gap, where we’re both comfortable with each other and that makes it easier to do some crazy shit, you know? You don’t want to just do some crazy shit on someone that you’re, like, being awkward, and, you know… I sometimes challenge myself to… even if it’s someone who, at first, I would feel like we wouldn’t have something in common, there is something… (trails off) Like last night, there was someone that was like, one of these very Appointment appointments, he was like well this is what I want, this is what we’re doing, and like, we’re kind of tattooing and it’s sort of silent, and then I was like, where do you work? And he’s like, I work at Fendi, and I’m like, oh fuck… how was Fashion Week? And then we’re just talking about that after that. Sort of broke the seal. But, you know, that kind of thing.
It’s like a game.
Yeah, for sure. I try to do that in my life, too, but I’m kind of a hater, but even when I’m being a hater, I’m like NO! Banging myself in the head, like, you can’t do that, you have to figure out what the fuck you guys have in common, like there’s always something.
What are your big 3 astrological signs?
Umm, I’m an Aries-Taurus cusp, with a Sag rising and a Pisces moon. Yeah, I know. The Pisces moon is brutal. Um, the one time I was working at this cafe, and this homeless dude comes in. He’d come in a lot, and we’d like give him coffee every day and stuff. And he’s sitting down, he’s talking to one of the baristas. I was pretty new, and my co-worker I guess was also pretty new, and I forget the context of it, but he just started guessing our signs. But like, really accurately. Like he was talking to all of them… and I’m in the back doing dishes or something… and he points at me, and goes like.. YOU… You’re weird. And I was like, what? And he’s like, you’re a weird one. And I was kind of like, intimidated, like what the fuck is this dude talking about? And that’s when I found out what a cusp is. Cause he was like, when were you born? You’re not one or the other. And I was like, yeah, I guess, April 19. And he’s like, what time? I was like, really close to midnight.
What’s your favorite city you’ve ever been to?
I really like New York. But I always say this, like, cities that I like, it’s never any objective quality of the city itself, it’s my friends there that is the main draw. For example, Vancouver is pretty boring, and the architecture is very hostile, it’s beautiful with the mountains and shit… but I love Vancouver because I love my friends there. Like I’m always going to have a great time when I’m in Vancouver. Same for New York.
What’s a city you’ve never been to that you want to travel to?
Prague, Vienna, and Warsaw. Polish people fuckin love me. It’s a weird thing, my waitlist is like 90% Polish people.
What’s something you think everyone should try once in their life?
Hmm. Doing something they think is cringe. Or they think is lame. And then realizing that it’s not lame. Or embracing some aspect of, like… getting dragged to a show where you’re, like, oh God, it’s so fuckin like, whatever. Embrace that hater side of you and exposure therapy it.
Very Aries answer.
Right now I am. That homeless guy told me it’s like, at different times, like in different positions it’s more fire, and other positions it’s more earth, apparently that affects it.
How do you think you embody that idea to force yourself to be cringe?
I really like rock climbing, but I also hate rock climbing. When I pull up, I’m just kind of doing my own thing. It’s pretty easy to be a freak at the rock climbing gym, like you don’t even have to be a tattooed person or anything, and there’s a part of that I could talk about how much I hate for a long time, but I do it every day, so.
What is something you enjoy that you think nobody else knows about?
Oh, God. Fuck. I don’t know. I’m pretty fuckin normal. I like to think that I’m pretty niche sometimes, because I do, like, chess. But chess is not a niche thing. Or like, I don’t know, I feel like also as I get older, I’m finding myself enjoying normal shit more, not really caring so much about… when I was younger, I would try really hard to be a niche person out of wanting to build myself up as an image, being insecure and being like, I have to make myself interesting, “I’m not like other girls” or whatever. There’s definitely something concise I can say here. I like religious studies, that’s not crazy. I like philosophy, that’s not crazy either.
Well, in most circles it definitely is.
Fair enough. There you go. Maybe like deleuzian and weird nouveau anarchism situationalism. Tecun… everyone should read Tecun. Maybe that’s a double answer, actually.
What’s the most important part of your self-care routine?
Looking homeless and smelling good.
What’s one item in your house that you can’t live without?
Probably my TV, as cringe as that is, I need to be overstimulated, as in like, I have the fuckin brainrot, like, bad. Like I need cocomelon to be playing at all times. Also my shower. I’m really obsessed with showering, it’s almost alarming.
If you were God for a day, what would you do?
Something, like, funny. I would pick one guy, and just fuckin, like, punish him. Book of Jove shit. No, that’s not real. I would fix America and make it so I can live here. That’s what I would do in my selfish, kind of like… well, if I’m God I guess I don’t really care to live in America. Well, I’d fix America.
What is a life lesson you want to leave the readers with?
Have fun, I guess. Tattooing and artists in general, our jobs are like, fake I guess, I mean we work really hard obviously, but we have a lot of free time, a lot of control over everything, and I feel like a lot of people kind of get trapped in this box of what their life should be. And someone said to me once, art is just the excuse you use to be doing what you would be doing anyway. And people get really fixated on doing things they feel like they “should” do instead of doing shit they would be doing anyway. And staying grounded in things like your hobbies, things that you like to do, spend money on the shit that you like. I know so many people that are so depressed, but make so much money, and don’t have an outlet to put that energy into, and that shit is soul-destroying. Just staying in that, like… I don’t know. Taking the pressure off, having fun, doing what you would do anyway.
Doomscroll Tattoo 