Artist Introduction: Horitomo

Today’s artist introduction features artist Horitomo and his love of both cats and tattoos. His first artistic medium is that of tattooing, which he’s practiced for the last 25 years, as well as painting. He is a self-taught artist, though he studied tattooing in Japan where he became particularly skilled in tebori (Japanese hand tattooing). As a tattoo artist, he currently works at State of Grace Tattoo in San Jose, CA. He’s also done design work for Sega Game Systems and exhibited through the California area.

However, what I fell in love with was his passion for the aforementioned cats and tattoos he has dubbed Monmon Cats. Monmon is a Japanese term for tattoo and his art is of cats with traditional Japanese tattoos in traditional Japanese colors of red and black. Many of the tattooed cats feature many instances of Yokai in their various forms.

His art is influenced by both Japanese woodblock artists and tattoo legends like Ed Hardy. These bold designs are whimsical and always serve to make me smile even while I get lost in their details.

One of my favorites is of a cat tattooing another cat, tebori style, with tiger stripes. A second favorite of mine is called Boss Cat and reminds me of one of my own cats, now passed on. I imagine her a Yokai boss in the after life, even with a name like Schnarlikins Quiver Tail.

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