Apr 111 min read

THE "ORNAMENTAL" TATTOO

henna style and mandala flow — Ornamental Tatto

The word itself ORNAMENT defines not a meaning but the purpose of decorating.

Back in the days, it was defining a status or being part of a community. Most ancient tribal cultures have developed their own (Berber tribes, India etc...)and it has been commercialised in modern tattooing first as cultural appropriation and lastly meeting other styles into more hybrid forms . We could definetly include Polynesian and Maori into this thread but I will leave it for another blog.

The most important thing in the ornamental tattooing is flow and placement

"CLASSIC” ORNAMENTAL

Inspired to MEHNDI, more commonly known as henna tattoo ,it is foremost Hindi art associated . Persian, Berber, Turkish, Moorish and all Middle East, North Africa,Indochina ornaments,mandalas and fractals join the category together.

Before being a professional tattoo artist ,I worked Mehndi for about 12 years so I have dig into it quite a lot

ornamental flow with chandelier effect and gems — Chandelier

“MINIMALIST”ORNAMENTAL

I call it this way, because of the lack of bold lines building the shape of it ...Instead we have dots, drops, fine short lines in a "forever sequence" which give us in its togetherness the ornamental shape itself .