Ukrainian tattoo studio elevates body ink to high art

Tattoos are art, believes the creator of new tattoo studio 6:19, which is why she has fashioned the space to look like a minimalist gallery. 

Located in Kyiv’s historic Podil neighborhood, 6:19 is the brainchild of painter and tattoo artist Ulyana Nesheva, best known for her delicate tattoo designs rendered in ultra-fine lines.

The minimalist aesthetic of Nesheva’s designs is reflected in the sparsity of 6:19’s interiors. ‘The idea was to rethink the vision of a tattoo studio in our country and create an ideal space for creativity,’ she says.

The studio design takes the ‘white cube’ format of art galleries and animates it with an open-plan layout that allows artists to tattoo alongside tables made for drawing new designs, and community members to meet and share ideas. 

There are almost no doors in the space and all the halls are unified to encourage movement around every area of the studio. In the centre of the studio is a mammoth, 800lb graphite concrete table with one side beaten down by hand, in a nod to the etching of ink onto skin during the process of tattooing. 

The table acts a reception area and a work surface for artists to design their future tattoos. The tattoo hall, filled with natural light and home to minimalist black beds, lies beyond the table and is visible through a large hole in the wall. 

It was important to Nesheva that even element of 6:19’s design was a work of art – from a hanging ceiling fixture created by the Ukrainian design company Propro, to the Mart Stam chairs, and the sculpture of a young boy that greets visitors as they walk through the entrance, made by local artist Сhristina Ridzel.  

The space is a gallery and studio in one, with art constantly on display and constantly in the process of being made. While all of the design fixtures and tattoos created at 6:19 are unique, they are ultimately united by their minimalist aesthetic. 

‘The concept of the studio is also that all our artists, despite the diversity of their styles and colours, are united by an exploration of minimalism,’ says Nesheva. ‘Simplicity is the ultimate goal and the highest form of complexity.’

INFORMATION

instagram.com/619studio