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Feature on p. 52
Article by Amelia Furlong
Translation by Hideaki Mizuno
Since the Enlightenment, the Western world has characterized “nature” as other from human society, whether as a powerful, wild force that must be tamed and made productive, or else a romanticized ideal that pre-exists the ‘rot’ of civilization. For California-based artist Katie Mizuno, who uses the human body as the canvas for large-scale ornamental tattoos, this tension belies a fundamental truth: that humans and nature are not separate, but one.
Working from patterns she collects herself, Mizuno creates tattoos that flow seamlessly around the curves of her clients’ bodies. Mizuno calls her pieces ‘biophilic,’ and it’s easy to understand why. Her designs incorporate patterns based on leafs, shells, water, blood splatters, roots, soil, and more to create textured, layered tattoos that look more like fossils than drawings.
Biophilia is understood as the innate human urge to seek out and connect with nature. However, at its most literal translation, biophilic means “a love of life or living things.” In this way, it is not confined to the so-called “natural” world. Humans, after all, are living creatures. We are apex predators, whose highly-developed brains and social skills have led us to believe we supersede nature. But under Mizuno’s skillful needle, the human body is made natural again.
You can see this in Mizuno’s juxtaposition of geometry and fluidity: next to a sharp, angled design, mycelia strands reach heavenwards; between thick bands of black rests a mandala of flowers; fine-line flowers inside a diamond float on a river of ink, reminiscent of Japanese Suminagashi. Even Mizuno’s geometric choices play with the fallacy of nature’s otherness. Geometry is associated with human mathematics, but the non-human world is ripe with geometry. Think, for instance, of a honeycomb. When we see Mizuno’s honeycomb tattoos, our preconceived notions of what is “natural” and what is “man-made” melt away. And once decorated with one of Mizunos tattoos, the body becomes a celebration of “life or living things”: plants and animals, yes, and also its own existence.
Mizuno also works in other fine art forms, which expand on her tattoo’s themes and patterns. These are available through Dark Water, the art studio she founded in Berkeley, California. Dark Water releases limited edition art pieces, screenprints, clothing, and accessories.
Written by Amelia Furlong
Translated by Hideaki Mizuno
