I mostly make artwork that reflect on my studies of the natural world and art history, particularly antique printmaking, traditional tattoo flash and scientific/botanical illustration. I often choose to distort the forms of my subjects, giving them a loose representation that infers the sources without explicitly stating it. Classifications (and words in general) only have the meanings that we generally agree them to have, but the real objects we ascribe those to have no tangible link to those same definitions. Reality is a lot more grey and wobbly than a textbook would typically define it to be, and I want my artwork to reflect that aspect of my lived experience. Sometimes things come into sharp focus with intense clarity, making it’s contrast with the soup-y consistency of life that more poignant.

The world is ever changing, with new classifications competing for relevance and acceptance within our communities. What’s agreed upon today may go out of fashion in 10 years (months, weeks, days?), replaced by a newer, alternative (mis)understanding of the same phenomenon. However, what hasn’t changed is the underlying reality that the language is describing. Plants are still plants, mammals still give birth to live young (unless you’re duck billed). So part of what I’m pointing at is the inherent silliness in trying to create universal terms. Every rule has an exception, and so every words cannot plausibly describe every instance that it’s designed to be applicable for. I often get caught up in the weeds of taxonomy (looking at species of flora and doodling around what makes them ‘plantlike’ as opposed to ‘human’ or ‘animal) but this inconsistency with language starts at its most basic dichotomies. Night and Day, Up and Down, Man and Woman. None of these terms hold up to scrutiny when turned around and examined from every angle, and neither should they. Language is a rough approximation and should be understood to be so, and so the same can be said for art.

Sometimes it’s not that deep, and I’m happy to make a cool tattoo of a skull.

My name is Cyan and I prefer they/them/their pronouns. I like coffee, vegan food and alcoholic drinks around 5-6% ABV. I live and work in Brighton, UK.

Contact me via my email at studio@cyanmyk.com or send enquiries for tattooing to booking@cyanmyk.com