Yes, it hurts...

A ChinaStylus / Red Dog Studio project, SKIN:INKS is an ongoing celebration of Hong Kong's tattoo art and culture.

Through events, exhibitions and conventions, SKIN:INKS aims to raise awareness and challenge the sometimes negative perception of tattoo art and celebrate its creativity, diversity, skill and beauty. The project is also designed to provide exposure for Hong Kong’s world-class tattoo artists and studios.

Kicking off in June 2008 - the project began with an innovative exhibition comprising more than 27 life size semi-nude photographs on canvas that had been painted/drawn on directly by 20 different tattoo artists from 14 of Hong Kong's finest tattoo studios.

Each life size image was given to the tattoo artist along with a brief profile of their ‘model’ – name, age, occupation. The tattoo artist then used this ‘skin’ image as a blank canvas to create his/her artwork by drawing/painting directly onto the canvas.

The first exhibition ran for a month in Summer 2008 and launched with a "quiet" private event for over 300 at Racks in Central, with Sam Lee, Miss Yellow and Bodhi supplying tunes for a crowd of celebs, tattoo artists, enthusiasts, supporters, TV crews and press...

After its one month run, the exhibition closed with a massive closing party and charity auction of all the artwork. Over 600 people showed up to thye event, and enjoyed live tattoo demos by Gabe from Ace Dragon, Julia from Starcrossed, Joey from Temple and Dicky from Dicky Tattoo – all the while serenaded by the sounds of Dj Bodhi and the mighty Uptown Rockers.

Silky smooth superstar Michael Wong and the gorgeous Cara G hosted the event, and pro auctioneer Jehan Chu put the artwork under the hammer - raising over HK$150,000 for youth outreach charity Kely Support Group.

More SKIN:INKS related events and activities are currently in pre-production for 2009.