Interview
Heejoong Choi (Barim)
Heejoong (Barim) has been working as a tattoo artist for about 16 years. His tattoo style is based on realism that expresses details, but since he studied oil painting for a long time, he naturally works with colors as well. In 2023, Heejoong participated in an international tattoo convention held in France and won an award.
At the Rouen Tattoo Convention he received third place for the Best Small Color Category and at the Montpellier Tattoo Convention he received second place for Best Small Color Category.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I studied Western painting until college and graduate school. While majoring in art, I studied various fields from flat art dealing with color, starting with monochrome, to three-dimensional and media. In 2008, I decided to take a break from college before my 4th year of college for my future and started looking into jobs that would allow me to use my major. At that time, I was wandering about life and was doing various short-term part-time jobs to earn money when I happened to see a drawing on skin while surfing the internet. Yes. From then on, I became curious about tattoos and soon started studying tattoos through various communities.And now I am doing various styles of tattoos based on this, and have been doing tattoos through guest work not only in Korea but also overseas.”
What inspires you?
“The biggest factor that inspires me is time. All living things are born, live, and eventually die. All of this exists within the shackles of time. Now, I like to tell stories within the big frame of 'life and death.'”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“I like projects that have a that tells the client's story. And I try to incorporate my favorite theme, 'life and death'. Whether it's about people, animals, or objects that hold memories.”
How would you describe your work?
“I haven’t found my own style yet, but since I started thinking about ‘life and death’ about a year or two ago. I think the feeling of 'life and death' is reflected little by little in the design.”
Which artists influence you most?
“There is no particular artist who has influenced me, but I am influenced by everything that I see. Rather than creating something new, I just try to reference it and make it look better.”
“The biggest factor that inspires me is time. All living things are born, live, and eventually die. All of this exists within the shackles of time.”
What is your creative process like?
“First, I ask the client about the subject or design they want. Then, we collect reference photos or materials, receive feedback on the rough sketch, and complete the design. The concretization work is being done using iPad or Photoshop.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“Professional artists in their respective fields represent and lead the trends of their time, that is, they express their thoughts in one form or another. Artists need to adapt to the changing times and trends and prove themselves, otherwise they will be forgotten. After all, if I want to continue doing what I want, I have to develop myself to survive somehow.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“I really want to tell this to everyone who is interested in art. It’s good to be introduced to good exhibitions, but I also recommend finding artists whose style you like through various platforms. All exhibitions allow you to appreciate how the artists expressed what they wanted to say. Therefore, it will definitely be fun and meaningful to find an artist in a field you are interested in and appreciate their work.”
Instagram: @barim_tat
