The Cut-Ups (Tattoo Flash from the Third Mind)

Over 100 pages of tattoo flash feature Brian Kelly’s innovative cut-up method, which splices and interweaves traditional flash motifs into new and unexpected designs. Inspired by Dadaist literary technique and borrowing from the spirit of collage, these brush-painted and spit-shaded designs are traditional in style and method but wholly original in their combinations and juxtapositions. Traditional images—roses and ships, eagles and daggers, hearts and skulls—become dynamic and surprising, nearly dreamlike, and yet deeply familiar. The collection grew out of Kelly’s MFA thesis, which he continued to refine at The Rose of No Man’s Land tattoo studio in Berlin. This is an excellent inspirational resource for tattoo artists, apprentices, and anyone interested in traditional or neotraditional tattoo style.