Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Lang.
Hi Jonathan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Salt Lake, and had a wonderful art teacher, Susan Beck who is a local artist, she introduced me to the world of tattooing, taking her high school art class to Lost Art tattoo where is saw Gailon Justus working. I knew I wanted to tattoo after that. Coming from the graffiti corner of the art world I wanted to be able to make art for a living and loved the imagery of tattooing.
After a brief stint of art school in Boston, it was back to salt lake for me where I began pursuing an apprenticeship. Rich D at big deluxe gave me the chance and opportunity to learn the craft and nature of running a tattoo studio successfully. After several years of tattooing at Big Deluxe, it was time to branch out and Vic Back gave me a spot at his brand new studio, the 27 best trolley square.
Following several years working at 27, Vic entertained the idea of me opening a second 27 location and I put all my efforts into finding a crew, location, and finally found a studio space in the sugarhouse. At the end of 2018, I got the studio opened in the sugarhouse and have been blessed with an awesome crew of friends and wonderful clients whose dedication and consistency make it possible for artists to tattoo and live in Utah.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Being a tattooer, artist, muralist, and business owner definitely requires dedication and willingness to weather the storm from time to time. As an apprentice trying to make it, I lived briefly with my sister in a small room with bunk beds before I could afford to get a place for myself.
As an apprentice you don’t generally make very much money so I spent two years living a very shoestring existence, surviving on state street taco carts and sleeping at the studio from time to time. The motivation of knowing that one day I would be able to support myself by tattooing and a love of art carried me through the Apprentice days. Thank you, Caroline! Getting a studio opened required a ton of work, Vic Back helped me a tremendous amount.
With his woodworking background, we built all the desks and cabinets for the studio and spend all our free time and money to get the studio open and running. As with anything that’s worth it, you have to dedicate a ton of time to create something special. Whether It be a custom painting, tattoo or studio there are countless hours that go into these things behind the final product that few really see.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a painter(acrylic and spray paint), muralist, and tattooer. I really love a style called Biomech/Bio-organic. It’s a style largely based on alien, sci-fi ideas of texture and movement with the body. It reminds me of the abstraction of graffiti letters and flow. Coming from a graffiti background I was attracted to it very early on.
I’ve always been into drawing and sketching and for me, the illustrative side of tattooing is the most exciting. I try to illustrate all my tattoos whether it be bio organic sleeves, wildlife studies, or Japanese-themed imagery. I am a big fan of color and study color theory a ton. I am constantly searching for new palettes, color Combos, and ways of mixing and blending to create mood and themes in my work.
I find the balance of working very attentively to detail in tattoos needs a balance and painting with spray paint on walls is so freeing and done on a large scale. This kind of work really lets you explore the other side of art, not limited by a client’s wishes or limitations of the skin. I’ve always found painting on canvas or walls to be a wonderful compliment to tattooing.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Being true to the core idea of what it means to be an artist has always been a quality that I have strived to follow. It means doing things not because they are easy, but because they make you grow and discover. Working on art has been a lifetime endeavor and there are no shortcuts to getting good at art.
In a world of screen time distraction and instantaneous gratification, art remains a way of life you can’t obtain quickly, it requires dedication, sacrifice, and determination. Those same qualities will help you find success in life if you follow them.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@bergmonsta.com
- Website: Bergmonsta.com
- Instagram: @bergmonsta
- Other: Tattoo27.com
Image Credits
Jon Lang
