For 30 years, Boris has been a force to be reckoned with in the tattoo industry. His talent for blending realism with fantasy has set the standard for an entire generation of tattoo artists. I’ve been following Boris’s work long before the social media age, when his tattoos were already admired in tattoo magazines worldwide. His influence on the tattoo community is immense, and I’m excited to dive deeper into his career and artistic journey through this exclusive interview. Let’s take a closer look at the artistry and achievements of Boris after three decades of dedication to his craft.
For the readers who are not familiar with you, how would you introduce yourself?
My name is Boris, originally from Hungary, where I started tattooing in 1992. However, I have been working in Vienna, the capital of Austria, for the past 13 years now. What you can find out about my work: @boristattoo on Instagram. As for me: in short, you will find out from the interview. 😊
Where did your fascination for tattoos come from?
I was born under communism in Eastern Europe, where tattooing was forbidden. So, in my youth, I was exposed to shitty, hand-poked tattoos that looked like ugly prison tattoos due to technical deficiencies. When that era ended, with the influx of many products (industrial and cultural) from Western Europe, electronic machine tattoos appeared. They were so much more aesthetically superior to hand-poked tattoos. As a young man with a love for visual arts and a passion for drawing, I fell in love with them.
How and when did you start tattooing?
In 1992, when I was doing my compulsory military service, my mates in the barracks saw the drawings I had made in my spare time and asked me if I would like to tattoo them. As I was provided with a homemade tattoo machine, I started tattooing them. Four years later, as a studio owner, I won my first prizes in my first tattoo competitions.
How would you define your tattoo style?
Somewhere around realism and fantasy! The great interest I got in the 90s was due to this, as I was probably one of the first artists of this style to be recognized. It’s so natural now to talk about the realistic-hyper-realistic style, but when I started, it went against all the rules of electronic tattooing at the time. The young tattooists of today, who were born into it, can’t even imagine how much energy and confrontation had to go into making this style accepted. It was the absence of the first element of the line-satyr-color trinity of the time, the lack of the line, that made it so difficult. It took many years for the durability of the tattoos to prove the style’s worth.
What kind of tattoo projects do you like to do the most?
I have always believed that variety delights (Varietas Delectat). I’m not the type of tattooist to develop a pattern of variations of different elements. That way, I can maintain my interest and excitement for the challenge.
What’s the main source of inspiration for your tattoos?
The client. My client is my muse. I like to work with a client who is emotional, thinking, and feeling. Their requests and personal desires trigger my imagination.
What’s the most challenging aspect of being a tattoo artist in 2025?
Honestly, after 30 years of tattoo practice, being a tattoo artist is pretty much just a daily routine. It’s not so much a challenge, as it is just a part of life. There have always been challenges, but I consciously don’t use the word “challenge” because there are just tasks to be done.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a tattoo artist?
I can do what I love most: I can create art. 😊
What’s your experience at tattoo conventions so far?
I have been attending conventions for almost 30 years. They’ve been constantly changing, with better and worse times. I was fortunate to have attended them during their renaissance, and they are now unbelievably popular. I remember the early 2000s when I was overwhelmed with work because 100-150 people were standing around watching what I was doing, sucking the air out of the room. I remember times when I didn’t drink water all day on Sunday because there was such a crowd that it took 1.5-2 hours to get to the toilet and back. It’s not like that anymore, but as I mentioned, there were hills and valleys.
Do you remember the first tattoo convention you have ever been to?
Yes, in 1996, I attended conventions in Barcelona, Bologna, and Berlin. I went to learn and see. I saw New York’s best work in newspapers. There was no YouTube at the time, so I wanted to see the process and learn from it.
What’s your favorite tattoo convention so far? And why?
My favorite is Ink and Iron! If you know anything about the history of tattoo conventions, I don’t need to explain. And if you don’t, then unfortunately you won’t get the chance to experience it because it was the zenith of tattoo conventions! The Alpha and the Omega! Los Angeles, Long Beach, on the retired ocean liner Queen Mary. Hot-rod, Music, and Tattoo Festival. It’s hard to explain it shortly.
What advice would you offer to someone considering a career as a tattoo artist?
There’s no single recipe. I don’t want to be shallow.
Who are the people you admire the most within the tattoo community?
In 30 years, I’ve met a lot of people and known many for a long time. There are countless people whose work I admire, but also as a person. There are hundreds of names I could list here, but I don’t want to bore the readers. Check out who I follow on Instagram; you can see them there.
What’s your biggest accomplishment as a tattoo artist?
I have achieved far more than I could have wished for or hoped to achieve at the beginning. My clientele has been global, I’ve been a welcome participant at events for decades, I’ve medaled in competitions, and I’m still found interesting and published by tattoo media, even after 30 years. But what is dearest to my heart is that in November 2018, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome (Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma aka Macro Museum) declared me a contemporary artist. At the beginning of my career, when tattooing wasn’t as recognized as it is today, it was my dream to have it accepted as an art form, which I always felt it was.
You are incredibly talented!