Rising Stars: Meet Sion Kwak of LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sion Kwak.

Hi Sion, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve loved drawing ever since I was a child. My mother is a tattoo artist, so I grew up naturally surrounded by tattoos. When I started thinking about my future career in high school, I became increasingly interested in following the same path. Eventually, I realized that I wanted to become a tattoo artist myself and began learning the craft seriously.

I first started working at my mother’s studio in a smaller city in Korea. In my early twenties, I wanted to experience different environments, so I began traveling back and forth to Seoul for work. Eventually, I settled in Hongdae, where I worked at several tattoo studios, learned a great deal, and grew as an artist. I also had the opportunity to run a studio with people I connected with and shared similar values with.

While working in Korea, I met many clients from all over the world, each with their own unique stories. Tattooing often led to natural conversations about our different cultures and lives, and I found those exchanges incredibly interesting. Those experiences gradually inspired me to step outside my familiar surroundings, meet more people from different backgrounds, and explore what it would be like to work somewhere new.

I also wanted to share my work with a wider audience and gain more experience in a new environment, which ultimately led me to Los Angeles. I’m now based here, continuing my work and enjoying life while meeting wonderful clients, fellow artists, and friends along the way.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Artistically, I spent a lot of time figuring out how to develop my own style and way of expressing myself. I kept asking myself what I truly loved, what I was good at, and how I could translate the things I wanted to express into something that others could connect with and find beautiful.

Even when I was working in Korea, I had many international clients. Since English isn’t my first language, there were times when I found it difficult to have conversations as deeply as I wanted to or express my thoughts exactly the way I intended. I believe tattooing is not just about the artwork itself, but also about connecting with the person you’re working with. So I always tried to listen more carefully and communicate as clearly as possible to help my clients feel comfortable.

And while wanting to explore a new environment was one thing, actually leaving behind everything familiar and starting over in another country was something entirely different. Building a life and career in a different culture and environment was a major challenge for me. It wasn’t always easy, but it also gave me the opportunity to meet new people and gain so many valuable experiences.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My work primarily focuses on fine, delicate lines and color. At the heart of my art is a Korean aesthetic and the cultural elements I grew up surrounded by. I often draw inspiration from traditional Korean ornaments such as norigae, knots, strings, and jade, as well as flowers and imagery from nature, interpreting them in my own way.

My clients come from incredibly diverse backgrounds, and each has their own story. Some want to express their Korean heritage or preserve certain memories through their tattoos, while others come from different cultural backgrounds and bring symbols or stories that hold personal meaning to them. I always take the time to listen and understand what those elements mean to each person, and I put a lot of thought into how I can naturally incorporate their stories into my work.

When designing a tattoo, I care about more than simply creating a beautiful image. I want the person’s story and the natural flow of their body to come together harmoniously. Even when I use the same flower or knot, the colors, composition, and flow can change depending on who I’m designing for. Ultimately, I want every piece to feel like it was created specifically for that person.

This is also one of the things I’m most proud of in my work. The cultural elements I grew up seeing and experiencing take on new forms through my art, and those images can then become a way for someone else to express their memories, family, heritage, or personal story. I find that incredibly meaningful.

In particular, using strings and knots to connect different elements and allowing them to flow naturally along the contours of the body is something I’ve been exploring and developing for a long time. It has now become one of the signature elements of my work. When I first started experimenting with this approach, it wasn’t a style that people were as familiar with as they are today. That makes the process of developing and refining it, piece by piece, in my own way especially meaningful to me.

To me, strings and knots are more than just decorative elements. They play an important role in connecting different images and stories. Rather than having flowers or other elements exist separately, I love bringing them together into one continuous composition that moves naturally with the body.

I’m also incredibly grateful that some people can now recognize my work simply by its flow and composition. That recognition is something I feel truly proud of.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
There are so many people who come to mind, but the first is my friend, student, and muse, Oh Hyun, who also goes by Stella. She has been a huge source of inspiration for my work.

Stella was the first person I had the opportunity to create one of the pieces I had been envisioning for a long time. She trusted me and continuously supported my artistic vision and the direction I wanted to explore. Today, my work extends across her back and along one side of her body. That project became one of the major turning points in my career.

But our collaboration didn’t end when the tattoo was finished. We traveled to different places together, capturing photographs and videos to express the story, atmosphere, and concept I had envisioned for the piece. Through this process, we were able to take the artwork beyond the skin and present it to the world as a visual story. It also helped me communicate more clearly what kind of art I wanted to create and how I wanted to express it.

To me, Stella is much more than just a client or a model. She is someone special who believed in my vision, helped me bring a piece I had long dreamed of creating to life, and made it possible for us to share that work with the world.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tattooist_sion/