About

I’m Paul Talbot. Artist, Writer, Musician. Pretty much in that order…

For years I described my process as “Re-examining Bits and Pieces of What’s Been Discarded in the Haste of the Late 20th Century and Sticking Them Together.”

At first I thought I was describing how I made tattoos. It turns out I was describing how I see the world.

I’m interested in the things culture throws away. Forgotten aesthetics. Working-class creativity. Graphic design. Punk. Graffiti. Comic books. Ideas that were dismissed too early or abandoned in the rush towards whatever came next.

Paul Talbot is often cited as one of the world’s leading exponents of a graphic tattoo style that inspired a whole scene like Andy Warhol art dragged thru 20yrs of dirty rehearsal rooms & beer soaked punk gigs.

Because culture has a habit of throwing away good ideas before they’re finished with and that belief runs through everything I make. In my tattoos, it becomes layered compositions built from fragments of visual culture.

In my writing for Total Tattoo Magazine and The Sunday Show, it becomes an exploration of how industries evolve, how creativity changes, and why the newest idea isn’t always the most valuable. I’m less interested in what’s fashionable than what’s enduring. Less interested in originality than in seeing familiar things differently.

Across all my work, I notice patterns, recover overlooked ideas, and invite people to look again.

The tattoos I make are simply where those ideas become permanent.

In a sea of ‘sameness’ his instantly recognisable style – that combines street art influences with contemporary portraiture and graphic design – emerges as a fresh voice with a clear vision.  If the road doesn’t exist, make your own.