Body art By Tay Suan Chiang
Publisher:Philippine Daily Inquirer - Publication Date: 06-08-2007

The body of evidence was laid bare in Sentosa last Saturday (August 4).
And some 1,400 Singaporeans and expatriates gathered at beach bar Km8 to witness Skin: Intimate Canvas.
It was held as part of the Singapore Art Show, now on till Oct 8. Held every two years, it is organised by the National Arts Council (NAC) to celebrate local visual arts and artists.
"Skin features a community of body-art artists with their own forms of creative and visual identity, which are valid as unique forms of expression," says an NAC spokesman.
At Skin, three tattoo studios - Johnny Two Thumbs Tattoo Studio, Exotic Tattoos and Visual Orgasm - each sent three of their best artworks, clients with tattoos, down a runway to showcase their work.
Among the audience was graphic designer Jung Lee, 29, who has a dragon tattoo, complete with floral background, on his right arm.
"A tattoo is much like wearing art but on my own skin," says the man who paid $1,000 for the tattoo done about two years ago.
Financial planner Shelly Tan, 33, was ink-spired after watching the TV series Miami Ink, which features a group of tattoo artists in that American city.
"It looks cool to have a tattoo," says the enthusiast who sports a butterfly and a fairy tattoo on her ankles. They each cost $50 and were done early this year.
Tattoo artist Sumithra Debi from Exotic Tattoos agrees that people do not associate tattoos with, say, gangsterism, but are seen as an art form these days though she does not have one on her body.
"Tattoos on a tattoo artist can be intimidating. I don't want to be seen that way," says the 26-year-old.
At the event, Thai artist Ah Chan Lau demonstrated a traditional method - using a stainless steel rod and injecting ink into the skin manually - to tattoo Buddhist scriptures as well as animals such as tigers and snakes.
And for those not quite ready to take the plunge yet, they still went home with some body art - via henna tattoos and body art painting.

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