Yonatan “Yoni” Zilber was walking along Avenue A in the East Village in June of 2001 when he ran into Lori Leven, owner of the respected tattoo shop New York Adorned. Zilber had come from Israel for the annual New York City Tattoo Convention. Noticing Zilber’s dreadlocks and tattoos, Leven approached to ask if he was a tattoo artist. One thing led to another, and after looking at Zilber’s portfolio, Leven offered him a job.
Growing up near Tel Aviv in the city of Hod HaSharon, Zilber was five when he became interested in drawing and only 12 when he developed a passion for tattoos, reading tattoo magazines and studying the designs of top artists.
Leaving Israel, where he’d worked at Psycho Tattoo in Tel Aviv for the past few years, wasn’t easy. But it was the only choice for someone who wanted to stretch himself artistically: The craft was more sophisticated and technically evolved in New York City, he says, and indeed many of the works he admired in magazines were produced at New York Adorned. So a year later, he obtained an artist’s visa and immigrated to New York.
Mostly self-taught back then, Zilber found the skill level of his new colleagues intimidating.
“I felt like a backyard basketball player who fell into the NBA,” he says. “I had to start educating myself.” He began taking private art classes, with a focus, over the last four years, on Tibetan art — now his specialty at New York Adorned.
Tibetan art, Zilber says, provides an endless source of colorful designs. His Tibetan art-inspired works have ranged from dragons and skulls to flowers and images of Buddha. “[Tibetan art’s] sensitive line expression, rich compositions, and simplicity lend themselves beautifully to the body,” he writes on his website. In addition, Zilber says, his focus on Tibetan art gives him a unique niche within the larger tattoo world. A decade after his walk down Avenue A, he’s become one of the most sought-after artists at New York Adorned.
Zilber met Bethany Cirlin at New York Adorned, where she worked a manager from 2003 to 2005. Recently, when she wanted a new tattoo, she sought him out. In late July at New York Adorned, Zilber tattooed a large Tibetan lotus flower on the right side of her stomach. He spent over an hour sketching out the design before beginning the tattoo.
All reputable tattoo artists have an hourly minimum, ranging anywhere from $150 to $300, though some charge by the piece. Zilber generally charges $200 per hour. Depending on the shop and the artist’s skill level, a customer can expect to pay between $300 and $500 for a piece like the one Cirlin was getting.
When they were ready, Cirlin lay down on a table while Zilber sat in a chair,needle in his right hand, closely concentrating on his work, with different colored inks laid out on a tray to his right.
Depending on the size and complexity of the design, performing a single tattoo can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. It took Zilber almost two hours to complete Cirlin’s tattoo. During that time, Cirlin frequently put her right arm over her face, wincing in pain. The lower stomach, say Zilber and Cirlin, is a particularly sensitive part of the body for tattooing.
“It kills,” Cirlin said at one point during the process.
Not all tattoos are as painful as Cirlin’s, depending on where on the body they’re done, but the process always hurts. “Tattoo pain is not that bad,” says Zilber, who has many tattoos, including designs running up and down both arms. “You get used to it while you’re getting tattooed. But even if you’ve had 20 tattoos, it’ll still hurt every time.”
Cirlin loves tattoos, but her years in the field have taught her caution. In 1997, an artist inadvertently inserted a phallic image into one of her tattoos. After that, she says, “I just became obsessed with the skin…There are so many people who either got tattooed too quickly and aren’t really committed, or have stuff they’re not happy with.” In 2007, Cirlin opened Forever Yours Esthetics at The Laser Spa, where she specializes in cosmetic treatments including laser tattoo removal.
Zilber himself is one of Cirlin’s clients; he is having a tattoo of a skull removed from the left side of his neck. After getting married last year, Zilber grew to dislike the tattoo when he saw it in one of his wedding photos. “The design was weird,” he says.
Laser removal is a lengthy and costly process. According to Cirlin, it takes a minimum of one year depending on the color and size of a tattoo, and requires eight to 12 treatments spaced four to 10 weeks apart. Depending on the tattoo, the price ranges from $150 to $400 per treatment.
According to Zilber, it is also extremely painful, though the individual sessions are bearable since the lasering process lasts no more than a few minutes. Zilber’s bimonthly treatments began in November of 2010. He and Cirlin hope his tattoo, already faded, will be gone by next April.
Zilber’s experience has him more convinced than ever that people should think carefully before committing to a tattoo. “It takes years and money to get a tattoo taken off,” he says. “It’s a bad idea to think, ‘well, if I change my mind, I can always get it lasered.’”
But for now removal was on no one’s mind. When Cirlin’s lotus tattoo was finished, she stood up and admired it in a mirror: Comprised of lush pink petals surrounded by waves of green leaves, it was easily one of her best, Cirlin said.
You can see the video I made here.
David Teich
davidztech@gmail.com
davidzteich@gmail.com
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