House of Vanta | Skin to Steel – Collector’s Edition

Skin to Steel didn’t begin as a manifesto. It didn’t even begin as Skin to Steel.

After publishing Renascence in 2021 — the book that deepened my ornamental language and set my path toward VANTA — I started working on two books in parallel.

One of them was Luminescence — a meticulous, high-concept study of colour. For years, I had been known for bright, saturated tattoo work. Luminescence was intended to be my last deep dive into colour before I left it behind entirely. Ten chapters, each built from the palette of an iconic artwork — Tiffany lamps, Renaissance oils, moody still-lifes — reinterpreted into my own designs.

But as I developed the pages, something shifted. My focus kept pulling away from hue and into form — into bold black lines, deep contrast, and structural integrity. The more I refined the work, the more I saw steel instead of pigment. Eventually, I realised Luminescence wasn’t the book I needed to make right now. I archived it, saving the concept for a future project.

Instead, I went all in on what I thought would be my first VANTA portfolio — a builder’s catalogue. The goal was straightforward: a clean, commercially-oriented document showcasing where my style could live beyond skin — railings, gates, lighting, homewares. I wanted proof of concept for architecture, interiors, and product design.

But that “catalogue” didn’t stay small. It began pulling in my fine art panels, tattoo origins, sketch archives, experimental sculptures, and process photography. I realised I wasn’t just compiling design options — I was building a statement.

Over the next three and a half years, it grew into Skin to Steel — a 220-page self-published book that is equal parts portfolio, biography, and brand blueprint. In its final months, I stepped away from tattooing entirely. That shift — difficult, decisive, and final — gave me the space to fully immerse myself in the book and understand what it truly was: the physical embodiment of my transition from ornamenting skin to shaping steel.

It became a deep reflection, a kind of visual manifesto and personal history, mapping the evolution of my craft, my philosophy, and my business.

What began as a speculative catalogue is now the cornerstone of VANTA’s first era — a document that connects my past as a travelling tattooist to my future as the director of a luxury design house.