Progress…

I just wanted to give an update to what I have been up to lately, which is researching and preparing for my next book (as yet untitled) on Polynesian tattoo. I mean to create a comprehensive encyclopedia of Polynesian tattoo. This sounds like a lot of work, and quite frankly it has been. I have [...]

Traditional Marquesan freehand

This client returned after a five year break and wanted to get some traditional Marquesan tattoo, to complete his leg. We were adding to work that I had done some five years ago. He wanted some specific motifs and I worked with those images while trying to stay true to the ‘fortification’ arrangements of traditional [...]

Oni tattoo

I wanted to post a Japanese style tattoo that I did yesterday, to show that I don’t only do Polynesian work! The oni is a devil, demon, ogre or some such evil being. Once regarded as a purely negative and somewhat nefarious symbol, now the oni has come, for the most part, to symbolize protection [...]

Back in the saddle

I’ve just returned from a short, but much needed holo holo on Oahu with Anna. Our only plans were to visit the Bishop Museum and to get Anna’s camera sensors cleaned. We managed to do both and had some time to get plenty sunburned as well as go on a food safari. I needed to [...]

Poi’i index theory

Poi’i index theory An argument for the usage of poi’i in traditional Marquesan tattoo By Roland Pacheco There is no question that there is a profound lack of information in regards to the representation and subsequent usage of the collective motifs specific to Polynesian tattoo. It is because of this that I took it upon [...]

Ana’ole ‘io

This ‘io (Hawaiian hawk) is one of four of this person’s na aumakua. ‘io is inset with traditional Poly symbol for manu (bird), on its back. Mata hoata (brilliant eyes) on its tail and wind above and below. Also hope vehine symbol above its head honoring the twin goddesses of tattoo, and protecting the ‘io’s [...]

Ana’ole, mother and sons

Ana’ole, mother and sons, to honor his wife and two boys. Pretty straight forward execution of a ki’i of his wife and two boys. The mother has her arms around her boys, protecting them as well as nurturing them. Her arms are tattooed with paka and koru. On her hands are poi’i which symbolize her [...]

Ana’ole 2D, shoulder piece

This pleasant fellow and his family stopped into the shop, day before yesterday, wanting a tattoo. He told me that he wanted some Poly, but was unsure as to what, so then just asked me to come up with something. He said whatever it was it had to be badass. This is what I came [...]

Ana’ole, Maori and Marquesan rib piece and breakdown

I just finished this tattoo a few days ago. It is an example of traditional Maori, Marquesan and Ana’ole. I am providing this breakdown of the symbols for the collector of this piece, but because of the personal nature surrounding the images, I will not go into the ‘why’. That being said, this piece was [...]

The myth of Taema and Tilafaiga, the Siamese twin goddesses of tattoo and war

The myth of how the practice of tattoo came to proliferate throughout Polynesia is rooted in the acceptance that it spread from Melanesia (Fiji) eastward. The general understanding of the locus from which the art form first spread, focuses on the Fijian-Tongan-Samoan archipelagos, but not necessarily in that order. In fact, the order of how [...]