2023-09-03 02:46:00
Lionel Velna is a 37-year-old tattoo artist, practicing at the Port in his salon called Break Ink Tattoo. In a week, he is participating in the Orlando Tattoo Show on September 8-9-10, in the United States.
Lionel Velna is flying to Orlando this Sunday to take part in the Orlando Tattoo Show, a tattoo convention where the world’s best artists come together. A real jack-of-all-trades, he intends to put Reunion in the spotlight.
Lionel was not necessarily predestined to become a tattoo artist. Passionate regarding manga and the Dorothée club, he started drawing around the age of 5-6. In particular the characters of Dragon Ball Z, like many young people of his generation. Quickly, he learns the techniques of his cousin: “He took drawing lessons, so I learned with him”, he recalls.
“I wondered what I was going to do with the drawing”
However, it was rather towards breakdancing that he headed as a teenager “to accompany a friend who wanted to build muscle”. Not one to do things by halves, Lionel is 100% invested in his new passion until he becomes a professional dance teacher. After realizing his dream as a dancer, he turns to tattooing, “i was wondering what i was going to do with the drawing”, he wonders. Motivated, he goes around the salons and asks to be an apprentice. After several refusals, he finally succeeds.
Hygiene training, drawing training, Lionel goes on and invests himself thoroughly. “Over time, I learned to be passionate regarding station wagons. And the tattoo did the same”. He pursues : “I realized that tattooing, in terms of commitment, is close to breakdancing. It’s very street and it requires a lot of work and investment. We are immersed in an artistic movement that animates our daily lives“, he analyzes.
“If you stay in your living room, you will not evolve”
As a consecration, it was on his own initiative that Lionel offered to participate in the tattoo convention in Orlando. A trip that should allow him to take “experience and insurance“thanks to meetings and exchanges with other tattoo artists, “because if you stay in your living room, you won’t evolve and art evolves all the time”.
“We have know-how in Reunion”
Motivated, Lionel does not intend to go there “lowering the head”, on the contrary. “I think there are great tattoo artists in Reunion who deserve to participate in this convention. I want to show that in Reunion we have a know-how in terms of tattooing. And then I’m a competitor, even if the war is scary at the beginning and during, I’m always satisfied with myself when it’s over. Whether I lose or win, I move forward”.
The Bus to Orlando
A competitor at heart, Lionel even challenged himself to take part in the Best of The Day, a competition rewarding the best tattoo of the day. To do this, he will be accompanied by a friend of his who “offered me his leg and his hip to do a big piece”, he rejoices. Moreover, there too the Reunionese will highlight his island since his tattoo will be on the theme of La Buse, the famous pirate with hidden treasure.
At the end of this stay, Lionel will fly to Los Angeles to attend the Golden Tattoo Show, a very prestigious convention in the industry. There, the Reunionese hopes to meet his idol, “Nikko Hurtado”, a tattoo pioneer, known for his ultra-realistic pieces and for “having tattooed The Rock”, Dwayne Johnson.
We wish good luck to our artist péi who will give us news of his stay.
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