Polynesian tattoo artist directory

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau (pe'a & malu)

A leading tufuga of the Sulu'ape family, credited with bringing traditional Samoan hand-tap tatau to international attention through work and demonstrations in Aotearoa, Europe and the United States before his death in 1999.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Senior tufuga of the Sulu'ape lineage who continues the family's practice of pe'a and malu, teaching apprentices and representing tatau at museum programmes internationally.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Brother of Paulo II, working from Aotearoa. Widely credited with training a generation of Pacific tufuga and profiled across Te Papa and academic studies of contemporary tatau.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Bestowed the Sulu'ape title and runs A-Town Tattoo. Widely covered in US press for keeping the au-tapping tradition alive within the Samoan diaspora and hosting the Pacific Ink & Art Expo.

Kahuna kā uhi

Style — Uhi hand-tap kākau

The most recognised living practitioner of traditional Hawaiian hand-tap kākau. Named a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow in 2019 for his work reviving Hawaiian tattoo. Also holds the Sāmoan Sulu'ape title bestowed by the Sulu'ape family.

Tohunga tā moko

Style — Tā moko (uhi chisel)

Senior tohunga tā moko and co-founder of Te Uhi a Mataora, the national collective of tā moko practitioners. Widely documented across museum, academic and public-media coverage of the tā moko revival.

Tā moko artist

Style — Tā moko

Founder of Moko Ink in Auckland and a widely profiled figure in the modern tā moko revival, including tattoo work referenced in international press and film.

Tohunga tā moko, carver, sculptor

Style — Tā moko & carving

Prominent Māori artist and tohunga tā moko whose work is collected by Te Papa and other major museums. Known for pairing traditional tā moko with contemporary sculpture and jewellery.

Historian, author, tattoo artist

Style — Research & practice

Author of Tattoo Traditions of Hawaiʻi and The Polynesian Tattoo Today, and long-time researcher of Polynesian tattoo history. Her published work is among the most cited English-language sources on the subject.

Tahitian tattoo master

Style — Tatau tahiti

Founder of Tattoonesia and one of the leading contemporary Tahitian tattoo masters, widely covered in Tahitian and French cultural media for reviving pre-contact Marquesan and Tahitian patterns.

Tattoo artist, Sacred Tatau

Style — High-detail Samoan / contemporary fusion

Working out of Sacred Tatau in Tampa, Samoan Mike is known for high-detail Samoan work that blends the dense geometry of pe'a and malu with contemporary sculptural motifs. He has built a wide following for tattooing high-profile athletes including WWE stars Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt.

Founder, Frost City Tatau

Style — Freehand Polynesian, graffiti-inflected

Founded Frost City Tattoo (Frost City Tatau) in 2017 after starting his career at 16 in Compton. Best known for freehand contemporary Polynesian work — drawn on the skin without stencils — that fuses Samoan pattern language with graffiti lettering and photoreal depth. Has tattooed more than two dozen NFL players.

Founder, IslandTAT

Style — 3D sculptural Polynesian shading

Founder of IslandTAT, widely credited with pioneering a three-dimensional shading technique in Polynesian tattooing — treating each motif as an individually sculpted form so the pattern reads as depth rather than a flat surface design. Also launched Island Tat as an apparel line and authored The Polynesian Tattoo: Code (2023). Clients include NFL players Rey Maualuga, Ray Lewis and Lofa Tatupu, and he has designed Polynesian patterns for Disney's Polynesian Resort.

Tattoo artist, pattern designer

Style — Contemporary Polynesian pattern design

Manu Farrarons is one of the most published contemporary Polynesian tattoo designers, author of Polynesian Tattoos: 42 Modern Tribal Designs. His work is credited with codifying a widely-copied contemporary vocabulary for Marquesan-inflected Polynesian tattooing.

Tufunga tā tatau, Soul Signature Tattoo

Style — Tongan tatatau revival

Born in Hawaiʻi of Tongan and Hawaiian-Filipino descent, Aisea Toetu'u co-founded Soul Signature Tattoo in Honolulu in 2004. Bestowed the Sulu'ape title, he is regarded as the leading contemporary practitioner of Tongan tatatau, working with the Tongan community to revive hand-tap tattooing that had largely disappeared after 19th-century missionary bans.

Founder, Western Tattoo Studio

Style — Contemporary Samoan / Pasifika

Auckland-based tattooist of Chinese-Samoan descent who runs Western Tattoo Studio in New Lynn. Recognised as a senior artist by Creative New Zealand at the Arts Pasifika Awards, he is credited with tattooing many of Aotearoa's best-known Pasifika sports stars.

Tattoo artist

Style — Contemporary Hawaiian / Polynesian

Long-standing Hawaiian tattoo artist recognised for combining traditional kākau motifs with contemporary black-and-grey shading, featured in Tricia Allen's Polynesian Tattoo Today.

Tattoo artist

Style — Māori-inspired contemporary

Long-time Māori tattoo artist featured in Tricia Allen's Polynesian Tattoo Today, known for blending tā moko-inspired forms with contemporary blackwork.

Tattoo artist, Humble Beginnings

Style — Contemporary Polynesian & Filipino tribal

Bay Area tattooist working from Humble Beginnings in San Jose. Part of the 1990s West Coast "New Tribal" generation that fused Pacific and Filipino tribal design with graffiti and illustration — a lineage that helped codify contemporary Polynesian tattoo on the US mainland.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau (pe'a & malu)

Sulu'ape lineage tufuga documented across Te Papa's Tatau: Marks of Polynesia programme and Sean Mallon's writing on contemporary Samoan tatau.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Bestowed the Sulu'ape title by the Sulu'ape family, working from Amsterdam. Frequently cited as one of the first non-Samoan practitioners entrusted with the au-tapping practice.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Sulu'ape lineage tufuga profiled in Te Papa and academic Pacific studies literature as part of the family's teaching diaspora in Aotearoa.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Wellington-based tufuga documented in New Zealand press coverage of pe'a and malu ceremonies as part of the modern tatau revival in Aotearoa.

Tattooist, Pacific Sisters

Style — Malu, contemporary Samoan

One of the few women tattooing malu, profiled by Te Papa and the Pacific Sisters collective as a leading figure in the modern generation of Samoan women tattooists.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Sulu'ape lineage tufuga referenced across Sean Mallon's Tatau: A History of Sāmoan Tattooing and Te Papa exhibition materials.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Bestowed the Sulu'ape title by the Sulu'ape family, working in Southern California and featured in LA-area press covering the Samoan diaspora tatau community.

Tohunga tā moko

Style — Tā moko

Senior wāhine tā moko practitioner and member of Te Uhi a Mataora. Featured in Te Papa, Radio New Zealand and Māori Television coverage of the moko kauae revival.

Tohunga tā moko

Style — Tā moko

Member of Te Uhi a Mataora and one of the artists profiled in the Tā Moko: Māori Tattoo film and companion book by Hans Neleman.

Tohunga tā moko, House of Natives

Style — Tā moko

Founder of House of Natives and long-time tohunga tā moko widely profiled in NZ press and international documentaries on the tā moko revival.

Artist & tohunga tā moko

Style — Tā moko, painting

Māori artist, author of Māori Art and Design, and long-time tā moko practitioner featured in Te Papa's contemporary Māori art collection.

Artist, Karanga Ink

Style — Tā moko & kirituhi

Founder of Karanga Ink and a widely profiled wāhine tā moko artist featured in Stuff, RNZ and The Spinoff coverage of the moko kauae revival.

Tohunga tā moko

Style — Tā moko

Long-standing tohunga tā moko documented in the Tā Moko: Māori Tattoo book and in Te Papa's contemporary tā moko records.

Tohunga tā moko

Style — Tā moko (uhi chisel)

Uhi chisel practitioner featured in tā moko documentaries and Te Papa educational programmes on traditional Māori tattoo tools.

Artist & tohunga tā moko

Style — Tā moko & sculpture

Māori artist and tohunga tā moko whose work is held in the Musée du quai Branly and the British Museum. Widely exhibited internationally and profiled as a leading contemporary Māori artist.

Tattoo artist

Style — Kirituhi / contemporary Māori

Auckland-based tattoo artist known for large-scale kirituhi bodysuits, featured across Pacific and New Zealand tattoo press.

Tattoo artist, China Sea Tattoo

Style — Old-school Hawaiian tattoo lineage

Successor to Sailor Jerry Collins at his Chinatown shop (later China Sea Tattoo). A foundational figure in the modern Hawaiian tattoo scene that produced the current generation of kākau and Polynesian tattooists.

Tattoo artist

Style — Hawaiian / Polynesian black-and-grey

Oʻahu-based Hawaiian tattoo artist featured in Tricia Allen's Polynesian Tattoo Today for detailed contemporary kākau-informed work.

Tattoo artist

Style — Contemporary Polynesian

Long-standing Hawaiian tattoo artist featured in Tricia Allen's Polynesian Tattoo Today.

Tattoo artist

Style — Contemporary Hawaiian / Polynesian

Hawaiian tattoo artist featured in Tricia Allen's Polynesian Tattoo Today for machine-based Hawaiian and Polynesian work.

Tattoo artist

Style — Contemporary Polynesian

Hawaiian tattoo artist featured in Tricia Allen's Polynesian Tattoo Today for contemporary Polynesian work.

Tattoo artist

Style — Neo-Polynesian

Neo-Polynesian tattoo artist featured in Tricia Allen's Polynesian Tattoo Today and Hawaiian tattoo media.

Tattoo artist, Mana'o Tattoo

Style — Contemporary Polynesian

Widely-published Tahitian tattoo artist and pattern designer, credited (with Manu Farrarons) with shaping the contemporary Tahitian tattoo style that spread through international tattoo magazines in the 2000s.

Tahitian tattoo master

Style — Tatau tahiti (hand-tap)

Moʻorea-based hand-tap Tahitian tattoo master featured in French-language cultural documentaries on the pre-contact tatau revival across the Society Islands.

Tahitian tattoo master

Style — Tatau tahiti (hand-tap)

Hand-tap Tahitian tattoo master featured in French Polynesian cultural media as one of the practitioners re-establishing pre-contact Tahitian tatau tools and technique.

Marquesan tattoo master

Style — Patutiki

Marquesan patutiki practitioner featured in Te Fenua Enata cultural festival documentation of the patutiki revival.

Tattoo artist

Style — Patutiki, contemporary Marquesan

Marquesan patutiki artist active in the Matavaʻa o te Fenua Enata festival programme, part of the collective revival of pre-Steinen Marquesan pattern language.

Marquesan tattoo artist

Style — Patutiki

Marquesan patutiki practitioner documented as part of the Te Patutiki association's cataloguing of Marquesan tattoo motifs.

Tufunga tā tatau

Style — Tongan tatatau

Tongan tā tatau practitioner active in the ongoing revival of Tongan hand-tap tattooing, referenced in Radio New Zealand Pacific coverage.

Tattoo artist

Style — Contemporary Tongan

Tongan contemporary tattoo artist working from Auckland, featured in Pacific arts media on the revival of Tongan tatatau design language.

Tattoo artist

Style — Contemporary Tongan

Contemporary Tongan tattoo artist featured in Pacific arts media coverage of the Tongan tatatau revival in Aotearoa.

Artist, Reo Tatau

Style — Reo Tatau / Melanesian revival

Founder of the Reo Tatau collective, credited with reviving women's hand-tap tattooing across Melanesia. Widely profiled by Te Papa and Radio New Zealand as a key figure in the wider Pacific tattoo revival.

Research & practice collective

Style — Veiqia revival

Artist-led research project reviving veiqia, the pre-contact Fijian women's tattoo practice, exhibited at Te Papa and the University of the South Pacific.

Tattoo artist

Style — Contemporary Cook Islands / Polynesian

Cook Islands contemporary tattoo artist featured in Cook Islands News coverage of the revival of tātatau in the Cook Islands.

Tattoo artist

Style — Neo-Polynesian / freehand tribal

Widely-published neo-Polynesian tattooist and Inked Magazine feature artist, part of the international generation building on the Farrarons/Chimé Tahitian design vocabulary.

Tattoo artist

Style — Neo-Polynesian large-scale

Widely-published Brazilian neo-Polynesian tattoo artist featured across international tattoo magazines for large-scale black tribal work.

Co-founder, Mark of the Four Waves Tribe

Style — Batok / Polynesian-adjacent revival

Co-founder of the Mark of the Four Waves Tribe, a Filipino-American collective that has strongly shaped the West Coast Pacific tattoo revival. Featured in Smithsonian and academic writing on Pacific tattoo diaspora.

Curator & author, Te Papa

Style — History & documentation

Senior Pacific Cultures curator at Te Papa and co-author of Tatau: A History of Sāmoan Tattooing. His writing is among the most cited primary English sources on Samoan tatau.

Author, Art in Oceania

Style — Art history

Co-editor of Art in Oceania: A New History and Tatau: Marks of Polynesia, providing foundational scholarship on Polynesian tattoo across the region.

Curator, State of Grace

Style — Curation & tattoo history

Tattoo artist and curator of Tatau: Marks of Polynesia (Japanese American National Museum), a landmark travelling exhibition on Polynesian tattoo.

Filmmaker & advocate

Style — Malu & tatau documentation

Samoan-New Zealand filmmaker whose documentary Velvet Dreams and long-running advocacy have shaped Aotearoa's understanding of tatau and malu.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Sulu'ape lineage tufuga working alongside Aisea Toetu'u at Soul Signature Tattoo in Honolulu, contributing to the ongoing revival of Tongan and Samoan hand-tap tatau in the Hawaiian diaspora.

Tattoo artist

Style — Contemporary Tongan

Auckland-based Tongan contemporary tattoo artist featured in Pacific arts media coverage of the Tongan tatatau revival in Aotearoa.

Practitioner collective

Style — Women's hand-tap tattoo revival

The Reo Tatau collective, led by Julia Mage'au Gray, has been central to the revival of women's hand-tap tattooing across Melanesia and Polynesia. Documented by Te Papa and RNZ.

National tā moko collective

Style — Tā moko

Te Uhi a Mataora is the national collective of tā moko practitioners founded in 2000, and the primary organising body of the contemporary tā moko revival.

Tattoo artist

Style — Contemporary Polynesian

Hawaiʻi-based tattoo artist featured in Tricia Allen's Polynesian Tattoo Today.

Owner, Slave to the Needle

Style — Neo-tribal, Polynesian & Filipino

Seattle-based tattooist widely recognised for reviving Filipino and Polynesian tribal work on the US mainland, featured in Inked Magazine and the Smithsonian's coverage of Pacific tattoo revival.

Tattoo artist

Style — Neo-tribal (Polynesian/Borneo/Filipino)

Widely credited as the father of the modern neo-tribal tattoo movement, drawing heavily on Polynesian, Filipino and Bornean pattern language. His work through Ed Hardy's Tattoo Time in the 1980s reshaped how Polynesian tattoo entered the Western tattoo mainstream.

Tattoo artist, Skin Deep Tattoo

Style — Hawaiian machine tattoo

Long-standing Hawaiian tattoo artist featured in Tricia Allen's Polynesian Tattoo Today for contemporary Hawaiian tattoo work.

Tattoo artist

Style — Contemporary Samoan

Samoan contemporary tattoo artist featured in Tricia Allen's Polynesian Tattoo Today.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Samoan hand-tap tufuga working in Aotearoa, featured in RNZ Pacific coverage of pe'a and malu ceremonies.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Sulu'ape lineage tufuga working from Auckland, referenced in Te Papa and Pacific studies documentation of the modern tatau revival in Aotearoa.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Sulu'ape lineage tufuga continuing the family's practice in Sāmoa, referenced in Te Papa's Tatau: Marks of Polynesia programme.

Author, Tattoo Design Directory

Style — History & documentation

Author and documentarian whose Vanishing Tattoo project and Tattoo Design Directory catalogue Polynesian tattoo traditions across the Pacific.

Tohunga tā moko & tā whakairo

Style — Tā moko & carving

Māori artist, carver and tohunga tā moko featured across Te Papa's contemporary Māori art collections and NZ arts media.

Tattoo artist, Invisible NYC

Style — Japanese & Polynesian tribal

Widely-published American tattoo artist whose long career blends Japanese tebori and Polynesian tribal work; a foundational figure in the Miami Ink era of neo-tribal tattooing.

Tufuga tā tatau (Sulu'ape-titled)

Style — Hand-tap and machine tatau

Owner of A-Town Tattoo in California and a Sulu'ape-titled tufuga who bridges traditional hand-tap tatau and machine work in the American Samoan diaspora.

Kākau practitioner

Style — Uhi kākau (hand-tap Hawaiian)

Hawaiian kākau practitioner trained in the uhi hand-tap tradition alongside Keone Nunes; regularly featured in Bishop Museum kākau demonstrations.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Malu (hand-tap)

Rare female tufuga in the Sulu'ape lineage documented for continuing traditional malu practice; profiled in Sean Mallon's tatau scholarship.

Tohunga tā moko

Style — Tā moko (uhi & machine)

Member of the Te Uhi a Mataora collective who works in both uhi hand-tools and machine tā moko and has been documented in Auckland Museum's moko programmes.

Tohunga tā moko & artist

Style — Tā moko and Māori sculpture

Taranaki-based Māori artist and tohunga tā moko whose sculpture and tā moko work is held in Te Papa Tongarewa's national collection.

Cultural knowledge holder

Style — Marquesan patutiki

Marquesan cultural authority and patutiki knowledge holder cited in the reference work Patutiki: Marquesan Tattoo Art (Au Vent des Îles) as a key contemporary source on Marquesan motifs.

Author & practitioner

Style — Patutiki research & practice

Co-author of Patutiki: Marquesan Tattoo Art and one of the leading contemporary documentarians of Marquesan patutiki motifs and their meanings.

Tufuga ta tatatau

Style — Hand-tap tatatau (Tongan)

Sulu'ape-titled Tongan-American practitioner cited by the Getty and LACMA in coverage of the Tongan tatatau revival.

Veiqia knowledge holder

Style — Veiqia (Fijian women's tattoo)

Fijian veiqia knowledge holder documented in The Veiqia Project's collaborative research on the revival of women's marks in Fiji.

Artist & cultural practitioner

Style — Veiqia revival

Fijian artist and founding collaborator of The Veiqia Project, credited with leading contemporary veiqia knowledge exchanges in Aotearoa.

Veiqia practitioner

Style — Veiqia (contemporary)

Fijian-descended artist working within The Veiqia Project's collaborative revival of women's marks, featured in Pantograph Punch coverage.

Tattooist

Style — Tongan tatatau (contemporary)

Tongan-Aotearoa tattooist featured in Radio New Zealand coverage of the Tongan tatatau revival in the diaspora.

Cultural researcher

Style — Tongan tatatau research

Researcher whose PhD work at the University of Otago on Tongan tatatau is cited in the contemporary revival literature.

Tattooist

Style — Cook Islands tā (contemporary)

Cook Islands Māori tattooist profiled in Cook Islands News for research and practice reviving pre-Christian Cook Islands tā motifs.

Tattooist

Style — Cook Islands and pan-Polynesian

Rarotonga-based tattooist referenced in Cook Islands News coverage of the Te Vaka Tatau collective.

Cultural practitioner

Style — Cook Islands tā

Cook Islands knowledge holder cited by the Cook Islands Ministry of Cultural Development in the tā revival programme.

Artist

Style — Samoan siapo & tatau design

MNZM Samoan-Aotearoa artist whose paintings and design work referencing tatau motifs are held in Te Papa Tongarewa's collection.

Artist

Style — Samoan motif painting & printmaking

ONZM Samoan-Aotearoa artist widely credited with mainstreaming tatau motifs in New Zealand contemporary art; represented at Te Papa and Auckland Art Gallery.

Curator & historian

Style — Tatau history

Te Papa senior curator of Pacific cultures and co-author of Samoan Tatau: Institutions of Marking, one of the most-cited references on tatau history.

Author & historian

Style — Tā moko scholarship

Māori scholar and co-author of Mau Moko: The World of Māori Tattoo, the foundational contemporary reference on tā moko.

Researcher

Style — Tā moko scholarship

Co-author of Mau Moko: The World of Māori Tattoo and researcher at the University of Auckland on the psychology of tā moko.

Tattooist

Style — Machine Polynesian

Hawaiʻi machine tattooist featured in Bishop Museum's Tattoo Traditions of Hawai'i publication and Honolulu Star-Advertiser coverage.

Tattooist

Style — Hawaiian kākau (machine)

Contemporary Hawaiian kākau tattooist referenced in Hawaiʻi Magazine's tattoo feature and Honolulu tattoo studio directories.

Tattooist

Style — Marquesan patutiki (machine)

Marquesan tattooist referenced in Tahiti Infos coverage of the annual Marquesas festival and patutiki demonstrations.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Sulu'ape-lineage tufuga whose work in the Utah Samoan community is documented by the Utah Division of Arts and Museums Living Traditions programme.

Tā moko artist

Style — Tā moko (early revival)

Wellington tā moko artist cited by Te Ara — The Encyclopedia of New Zealand for his role in the late-20th-century tā moko revival.

Tohunga tā moko

Style — Tā moko (uhi)

Founding member of the Te Uhi a Mataora tā moko collective, documented in Auckland Museum's tā moko oral history programme.

Tohunga tā moko

Style — Tā moko

Rotorua-based tohunga tā moko featured in NZ On Screen and E-Tangata coverage of contemporary tā moko practice.

Tā moko artist

Style — Kauae moko

Wāhine Māori tā moko artist profiled in The Spinoff for her kauae moko work and mentoring of the next generation.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Sulu'ape lineage tufuga working out of Auckland and documented in Radio New Zealand's Pacific tatau coverage.

Tattooist

Style — Filipino batok & Polynesian

Founder of the Mark of the Four Waves Tribe, an educator on Filipino batok whose practice is often documented alongside Hawaiian kākau in Pacific tribal press.

Tattooist

Style — Tahitian tatau

Tahitian tatau artist cited in La Dépêche de Tahiti's ongoing coverage of French Polynesian tattoo festivals.

Tattooist

Style — Cook Islands tā revival

Cook Islands Māori tattooist documented in Cook Islands News coverage of the Te Vaka Tatau collective's revival work.

Tā moko artist

Style — Kauae moko

Wāhine Māori tā moko artist profiled in NZ Herald coverage of the kauae moko revival among younger Māori women.

Tufuga tā tatau

Style — Hand-tap tatau

Sulu'ape lineage tufuga cited by Te Papa's ongoing Samoan tatau research programme and Radio New Zealand.

Tattooist

Style — Samoan tatau (machine)

Aotearoa-Samoan tattooist featured in Radio New Zealand and Pacific Media Network coverage of the tatau revival in the diaspora.

Tattoo artist

Style — Patutiki & Polynesian tribal (machine)

Certified Polynesian tattoo artist based in Bordeaux specialising in Marquesan patutiki and pan-Polynesian tribal work. Runs the Tapati Tattoo studio serving southwestern France.

Studio (single-artist specialist)

Style — Samoan, Marquesan & Māori tribal (machine)

Single-artist Paris studio dedicated to Polynesian tattooing — Samoan, Marquesan, Māori and pan-Polynesian tribal — five minutes from Gare du Nord.

Tattoo artist

Style — Marquesan & Polynesian symbolic (machine)

Marquesan-heritage tattooist working from Nancy in eastern France. Runs Kiva Tattoo and specialises in symbolic Polynesian, Marquesan and Māori-influenced designs, each customised to the wearer's story.

Tattoo artist & shop owner

Style — Polynesian tribal (machine)

Bretagne-based Polynesian tattooist trading as Hoata Tiki Tattoo, working custom Polynesian pieces alongside a small Polynesian goods boutique.

Tattoo artist

Style — Polynesian tribal & Māori-inspired (machine)

Runs Fenua Tattoo on the French Riviera with over 25 years working in Polynesian tribal and Māori-influenced styles, one of the longest-standing Polynesian specialists in southern France.

Tattoo artist

Style — Polynesian & Māori tribal (machine)

French-Dutch tattooist raised on Moorea in the Society Islands with over 15 years' experience. Now based in Germany, specialising in Polynesian and Māori-influenced tattooing under the name Temata.

Studio

Style — Traditional Polynesian & Marquesan (machine)

France-based studio dedicated to traditional Polynesian and Marquesan tattooing, with a strong focus on the visual language of the Marquesas Islands.

Tattoo artist

Style — Contemporary Polynesian (machine)

Samoan-American tattooist raised between Hawai'i and California with over fifteen years learning from influential Polynesian and Pacific tattooists in Los Angeles and Honolulu. Represented by Tatau Brand.

Cultural tattoo artist

Style — Polynesian, Micronesian & Melanesian tribal

Los Angeles cultural tattoo artist with 20+ years working Pacific Island, Polynesian, Micronesian and Melanesian tribal art. Public studio site documents the practice as narrative work rooted in Pacific symbol systems.

Tattooist · Sulu'ape-taught

Style — Hand-tap tatau & machine Polynesian

Owner of Meatshop Tattoo in Copenhagen and long-time collaborator of the Sulu'ape family, one of the most visible European practitioners taught in the Samoan hand-tap tradition. Widely covered in international tattoo press.

Tattooist

Style — Hand-poke & dotwork (indigenous / Polynesian influence)

Founder of Skin & Bone in Copenhagen, internationally known for hand-poke work drawing on Polynesian, Nordic and other indigenous tattoo traditions. Regularly featured in Skin Deep and Tattoo Life.

Tattoo artist

Style — Polynesian & Marquesan tribal

Tattoo artist originally from Wallis and Futuna, working from Île de Ré on the French Atlantic coast. Specialises in symbolic Polynesian tattoos rooted in his own Pacific heritage.

Tattoo artist

Style — Marquesan patutiki

Marquesan tattoo artist running a dedicated patutiki studio in Chabeuil, southeastern France. Every piece is custom-composed from Marquesan motifs to carry the wearer's personal story.

Tattoo artist

Style — Marquesan & Pacific tribal

Marquesan artist from Ua Pou working out of Henua Tiki Tattoo in Lorient, France, and international Polynesian conventions. Over a decade specialising in Marquesan and pan-Pacific tribal work.

Tattoo artist

Style — Polynesian tribal & ornamental

Amsterdam-based tattooist specialising in Polynesian-inspired tribal and ornamental work, guesting regularly in Germany and Belgium. Focuses on Marquesan, Māori and Samoan visual language.

Tattoo artist

Style — Ta Moko-inspired & Polynesian tribal

UK-based tattoo artist with over 30 years' experience specialising in Māori-inspired and Polynesian tribal work, travelling to international conventions and guest spots.

Tattoo studio

Style — Māori, Polynesian & tribal

Rome studio with a dedicated Māori, Polynesian and tribal programme, publishing detailed cultural context alongside custom designs.

Tattoo artist

Style — Polynesian & Celtic tribal

Runs InkSpot Carlisle in northern England with a dedicated tribal programme spanning Polynesian and Celtic traditions, working from research-backed custom designs.

Tattoo studio

Style — Polynesian & Māori tribal

Barcelona studio dedicated to Polynesian and Māori tribal tattooing, offering multi-hour custom sessions from a single-focus Polynesian programme.

Tattoo artist

Style — Polynesian, Nordic & Borneo tribal

Madrid-region specialist in freehand tribal work — Polynesian, Nordic and Borneo — with more than 28 years of practice, working almost exclusively in black ink.

Tattoo artist

Style — Samoan & Polynesian tribal

Resident Polynesian specialist at Antik Tatoo in Angers, focused on Samoan-influenced designs alongside broader Polynesian tribal work.

Tattoo studio

Style — Māori & Polynesian tribal (kirituhi)

Long-running Dublin studio with a dedicated Māori and Polynesian programme. Every piece is custom-composed in consultation and clearly positioned as kirituhi — Māori-inspired tattooing for non-Māori clients.

Tattoo artist · studio owner

Style — Polynesian, feminine ornamental & geometric dotwork

Founder of Avalan Tattoo, creating Polynesian tattoos since 2012 and running her own studio since 2016. Award-winning at Polish and international conventions in London, Florence, Milan, Berlin, Venice and beyond.

Tattoo artist · studio owner

Style — Ornamental line work, Māori & Polynesian tribal

Runs Spider Ink in Dublin with over 30 years of experience in ornamental and tribal tattooing, specialising in Māori and Polynesian-influenced geometric line work.

Tattoo artist

Style — Tribal, Polynesian, Māori & Celtic

London-based tattooist at Pink Tattoo & Piercing whose programme is built around tribal traditions — Polynesian, Māori and Celtic — treated as a shared visual language.

Tattoo artist · studio owner

Style — Freehand Māori, Tahitian, Samoan, Hawaiian & Borneo

Tattooing since 1998 from the Maohi Room in Winterthur, Switzerland, with 25+ years focused on Polynesian, Māori, Tahitian, Hawaiian, Samoan and Borneo tribal work — every piece composed freehand on the client.

Tattoo studio

Style — Polynesian tribal

Geneva studio dedicated to Polynesian tattooing, publishing detailed cultural context for each motif and running a single-focus Polynesian programme in French-speaking Switzerland.

Tattoo studio

Style — Māori & Polynesian tribal

Bern-based studio with a dedicated Māori-Polynesian programme, offering free consultations and freehand custom Polynesian tattoos as a headline specialty.

Tattoo artist · studio owner

Style — Polynesian & Marquesan patutiki

Runs Manu Tattoo in Vilseck, Germany as Manu Tuhuka Patutiki, focused on culturally-rooted Polynesian and Marquesan tattooing with a career spanning more than three decades.

Tattoo studio

Style — Tā moko-inspired & Polynesian

London studio specialising in original body art rooted in traditional forms of tā moko, Māori and Polynesian tattoo, working consultatively with each client.

Tattoo artist

Style — Freehand Polynesian & Māori

Freehand Polynesian and Māori specialist at Skinzophrenic Tattoos in Hereford, England — every design applied without stencils so it flows with the wearer's anatomy.