Ukraine has a rich tattoo history that has offered a bright spot in the midst of tragedy. Artists are busier than ever inking signs of resilience and resistance on Ukrainians and tattoos have become a way to show survivorship and raise money for the Ukrainian war effort. We’re honored to take a small look at two of these amazing Ukrainian artists.
Sasha Herasymenko
Sasha is an artist from Kyiv, Ukraine, and his fine line and micro tattoos are absolutely extraordinary. From lettering to geometric and micro to large fine line designs, Sasha is an absolutely amazing artist!
While mostly tattooing with black ink, Sasha incorporates red ink allowing his art to pop. He uses red ink both as an emphasis point, highlighting one word in a phrase, and as a feature, much like his tiger picture above. His art also has very little if any shading, letting the linework speak for itself.
Every tattoo on his Instagram is meticulously done and the line work is crisp and amazing. In his own words, Sasha specializes in “elegant tattoos with soul”. That description couldn’t be more accurate! Thank you, Sasha, for sharing your talent and art with us!
Yana Meleshko
Yana is a brilliant fine line and freehand specialist out of Sumy, Ukraine. She currently is guest spotting throughout Europe (Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands) and active on social media.
Yana uses only black ink to permanently etch her art into skin. Her use of deep, dark black helps her fine line designs stand out against her canvas creating gorgeous, delicate designs ranging from animals, mythical creatures, and floral designs.
Although she does use stencils for some her designs, Yana loves to freehand her tattoos. Taking pen to skin helps her make each of her designs perfectly fit the tattoo’s placement and makes every one of her tattoos unique. Even when Yana uses a stencil, she can be found with a pen in hand perfecting the design on the skin before ever picking up her tattooing machine.
Not only is Yana’s art absolutely stunning, so is she! Pictures of Yana modeling her own tattoos are scattered throughout her Instagram account. Her photos display an artistic eye and are another reflection of how seriously she takes her craft.
Yana’s Instagram is filled with inspiration, but she does not shy away from showing the ugly reality of what is happening in her home. The Sumy region lies on the border with Russia and has seen conflict from Russian troops since February 2022. Sumy, the capital, was never captured.
We are so happy that Yana has shared her art with us and let us know just a piece of her story.
