Part of what makes the cave art at Altamira in Spain so stunning is the way the lines both follow and sculpt the craggy rock face to create three-dimensional, dynamic images. You can still feel the heft and vitality of the wild beasts depicted some 35,000 years later. That simple hands bearing simple tools could effect such drama makes the work all the more astounding. While the link between primitive cave paintings and modern tattooing may be tenuous, the comparison provides good context for considering the art of Gakkin (Kenji Nishigaki), one of Japan's most internationally recognized tattoo artists.

Gakkin, a native of Wakayama and now a resident of Amsterdam, draws freehand, forgoing modern stencil machines to work directly on the body, conforming to and molding its curves and lines. Whether tribal blackwork, an ero-guro (erotic/grotesque) dream or a nature scene rooted in long-established irezumi (Japanese traditional tattoo) motifs, the finished piece feels extra-dimensional, simultaneously visionary and traditional, unbound by time. By nature, all tattoos live, breathe and move — they become the body; Gakkin's carp swim, his spider creeps, the coils whorl and the blood flows.

Which makes it more surprising that Gakkin wasn't raised in a particularly artistic family and didn't even start drawing until his late teens.