We were lucky to catch up with HYEJIN LEE recently and have shared our conversation below.
HYEJIN, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
The creative profession is always full of troubles. The tattoo market is no exception. Many tattoo artists want to express their individuality while trying to develop their own vision and marketability. The two are not compatible, but securing both is not an easy task. Furthermore, tattooists must constantly expose their work to attract potential clients and keep abreast of their tastes. I believe that the secret to my success is sincerity. It feels like a very clichéd answer, but the more I work on it the more I feel it’s true. I uploaded my work to social media almost every day for a year. It was not easy to create and upload high-quality content every day, so there were many obstacles, but I did not stop. Then, my account, which had no reaction at first, spread through the algorithm and grew rapidly thanks to the introduction of short forms such as Reels and TikTok.
In today’s rapidly changing society, quantity is more important than quality. Twenty works of 30% quality are recognized as much as one work that meets 100% perfect quality. This is not to say that low-quality content is to be avoided, but it means that quantitative satisfaction should be given priority in any field. This is because when a certain amount is met, the quality naturally rises and a direction is created. That’s why I believe that sincerity and persistence are important elements of success.
HYEJIN, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a tattooist. If you’re interested in this field, you know that there are so many talented tattoo artists in the world. That’s why, in order to stand out, I must have a difference from others. So I kept trying to find a new style. My tattoo is a style that uses thin needles and various colors. As I said before, many tattooists now have that style, and there are many tattooists who paint perfectly like a copier. So I decided to focus a little more on design. My main subjects were flowers and animals. It’s a very common material, and it’s hard to stand out in the middle of the day. So I focused on customization. By combining the two materials, customers can put the meaning they want in their tattoos. It is also common to add other images as if composited into various silhouettes, so I focused on the negatives of the images. The plant itself forms the iconography of the animal. Like expressing animal patterns with flowers, and drawing wrinkles and facial expressions with stems and branches. This style was not new, but it met the needs of customers and gave a visually novel impression. In addition, since this style is easy to transform, the possibility of design expansion is great. Even if it’s not an animal, as long as you know the icon you want, you can draw anything.
Now, other tattooists quote my work or steal my designs, but as the originator of my style, I understand this style better than anyone else. They can imitate them, but they won’t be able to steal my identity and creativity.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I want to continue building my own style. So that anyone who sees my work, anywhere, knows that it is the work of Fluffy (the name for the tattoo work). I briefly mentioned copying of the work earlier, but copycats are always a nuisance to creators. Creators are always victimized by copycats, to the extent that there is a meme that uploading one’s work on the Internet means creating numerous copy links. It is always an honor for my paintings to inspire others and derive new works, but copying It’s stealing. People often overlook intangible things like design and the effort that goes into design, but this is also stealing. So I hope people will know this perception. That’s why I hope my work becomes more famous so that people naturally know that even if various works are derived from my style, the originality is in me. I also hope that people will continue to get pleasure from my drawings and tattoos.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I love being able to bring joy to others while doing what I love. My clients are willing to give their money and time to come see me to get my work done. They also praise and praise my work. Every time I get this instant feedback, it makes me happy and rewarding to do this.
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