Before I met you, and only saw your work and knew your name, I thought you were a bearded old Russian man. How long have you been tattooing?

You're not the first to think that - maybe it's a foreshadowing of some sort. I've been tattooing for nine years.

You’re very well-traveled, where is your favorite place you’ve been? And least favorite?
I have felt a very strong pull to Tokyo, it feels strangely like home to me. A couple cities in Italy receive an honorable mention, namely Firenze and Matera. I love Cape Town. St. Petersburg. Hong Kong. Iceland. Costa Rica. Scotland. I could keep going. The world is a beautiful place and it's difficult to choose favorites.

Your dad is an amazing painter, and your oil paintings are seriously incredible, do you have an artistic family?

Thanks, Andrew. My mom and dad are both restorers of iconography by trade. Both are much more skilled in the arts than I could one day hope to be. My dad is the true artist - it's his identity, all he has ever done and known. My mom is still a privately working restorer and has made some amazing paintings in the past. Growing up and being surrounded by art I guess some of it inevitably had to rub off on me. Very grateful for that.

What’s your favorite thing to photograph? Do you have multiple cameras and set-ups, or just one tried and true? ''

I won't pretend I know what I'm doing with photography. I have always wanted to paint more, but always have some excuse not to start. During a drought of inspiration, I decided I would start taking photos - thought of it as a very easy form of painting. Just need to press one button right? Wrong. But something happened and I became obsessed. The world felt new and exciting through the lens of a camera - a lot to still figure out but I'm enjoying the process. I've been shooting almost strictly film for the last few years and that's the only thing consistent in my photography... I suppose that I'm trying to capture more of a feeling than anything else when I take photos. Pretty elusive, those feelings. 9/10 times it doesn't work out.

Do you think you’ll tattoo for the remainder of your days?

I knew as soon as I began tattooing that it would be temporary. A few more years or maybe a decade, idk. I don't want it to be my profession for my whole life but I do hope to carry tattooing with me until I die. It's truly a craft imbued with magic. I am forever in gratitude for the doors it has opened to me in the past and in the future.