Getting a tattoo is, in many ways, a sacred thing. You are agreeing to let another person apply ink to your body in the form of a design that generally carries meaning. So for resident tattoo artist Pepsi, tattooing is part of who he is and it goes all the way back to when he was a child.
Origin Story
Born in Thailand, Pepsi was raised as a Buddhist and studied as a monk. Pepsi began tattooing himself at the age of eight years old which is incredible as is but even more incredible is that he began tattooing others at eleven.
It wasn’t long before he began to learn Sak Yant, a traditional form of Thai tattooing. “I really love tattooing. It’s given me everything I have today, I love it,” notes Pepsi. When asked what advice Pepsi would offer new aspiring artists, he says it’s important to listen and essentially be a sponge. Soak in as much information as possible.
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Sak Yant
Sak Yant is a traditional form of Thai tattooing. An art form, thousands of years old where a needle is attached to the end of a bamboo stick and tapped into the skin. Bamboo tattoos cause little to no bleeding and no scabbing and have a healing time significantly faster than the current tools used. It’s what makes the art form so attractive to anyone looking for the authentic Thai experience. “I love Sak Yant tattooing, it’s my favourite”, notes Pepsi.
See also: Gent’s Approved: Luxury Experience with Bamboo Tattoo
Bamboo Tattoo
Pepsi calls local boutique spot Bamboo Tattoo home. A fitting name given the inspiration behind the store front. In 2009, Todd Santos was a business student in Australia when he first encountered traditional Thai tattoos. With his curiosity peaked, he travelled to Thailand in search of this art form. It’s here that he found the thousand plus year old art form. There he decided to get his full sleeve done. It took several days to complete but was a transformative experience.
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In 2010, the doors at Bamboo Tattoo were opened in Toronto and the rest as they say is history.
