kiwi inspiration

I just came back from a trip that took me around the world. It has been five amazing weeks that left memories that will (hopefully) be there forever. I found inspiration in the Borough Market and in the guy who paints chewing gums on the floor of the Millennium Bridge in London, in the crazy mixture of hipster and Latino shops of the Mission in San Francisco, in the tiny houses of Tateishi in Tokyo, in the ubiquitous joggers in Sydney and, above all, in New Zealand.

I knew I would like that country: I mean, its nature is a catalog of the best this Earth has to offer. And then the people... just amazing. But I never expected I would fall in love this way with the Maori patterns. They are so elegant, so hypnotizing in their curves and symmetries, in their colors. Sometimes telling a story fully merged in the geometry of the lines, sometimes "telling" the surface they are drawn on, like in the case of tattoos that follow, prolong and emphasize the parts of the body where they are drawn. I am not fond of tattoos in general, but I have seen in New Zealand the most beautiful ones, where I could understand someone willing to have such a drawing forever on his skin. I have understood the magic of facial tattoos the way the Maoris draw them. Try it drawing a face and playing with the facial features, prolonging the natural wrinkles... it is really hypnotic. I would not dare doing it on my face but now I see the beauty of it.

Drawing patterns that grow in themselves is something I always liked but since I was in New Zealand I draw them non-stop. Above: a pair of "tattooed" trousers, based on the idea of using the main lines (waist, knees, pockets, crease) and recreating them in the pattern. I still have to practice like... a lot, but I wanted to share this first try here.