UNDER THE SKIN: Sasha Unisex

This article was originally published in International

We’ve all seen those OAP’s, riddled with smudged tattoos that look like an a pen’s pretty much burst all over their skin. Not cute. Thankfully, modern day tattooing means there’s a new artistic edge to body art. With 870k Instagram followers (yeah, we’re jel too) and a design aesthetic that’d even leave Kat Von D shaking in her animal friendly boots, Moscow-based Sasha Unisex (Oleksandra Lanchukova if you’re not afraid of getting tongue tied) is the tattooist injecting some watercolour wonder into the world of body art.

Beginning her tattoo journey through visiting conventions and meeting other artists, Sasha fell in love with the artwork, finding inspiration in artists’ stories, and decided to try it out for herself. Originally not sure what style she wanted to work in (like every millennial fresh outta college), Sasha started by trying “old school” tattoos, which were often realistic and in black ink, before discovering that she didn’t want to replicate existing styles and was up for having a bit of fun and trying something new. YAAAS Sash!

Finding her own style after drawing inspo from nature and animals (how quaint!), Sasha uses watercolour graphics and bold colours to create fiercely unique and totally adorable tatts. Imagine abstract foxes and dogs, created through a perfect palette of pastels. And people go mad for them (or at least, those that spend hours searching cute dogs on google) So much so, that she decided to expand her business, creating artwork, clothing and even temporary tattoos for those who love her stuff but aren’t quite ready to go under the needle yet.

Championed for her original style, Sasha is on the forefront of a new wave of tattoo artists creating beautifully original tattoos that don’t conform to “traditional” styles. We pulled her away from a screaming tattooee to find out more about her not-so-normal needle skills.

Words - Elly Watson