Florian Rudolph – artist, designer & tattoo artist in Berlin
I almost always have an idea in my head. A drawing, an object, a shape I want to try out. For me, art is a way to sort my thoughts and give feelings a form – on skin, on paper or as something you can hold in your hands.
My eye for nature started early. As a child in Saarbrücken I collected dead insects and small animals, studied them and tried to understand their shapes. That mix of curiosity, fascination and a certain closeness to the strange has stayed with me to this day.
From an idea to a visual language of my own
I studied product design at HBK Saar and graduated with a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. In 2016 I moved to Berlin and discovered my passion for tattooing here. I’ve been self-employed since 2017, and in 2018 I opened my tattoo studio MUSE.
In my tattoos, plants, animals and anatomical forms meet surreal elements. I’m interested in what happens when familiar things form a new connection: when an animal takes on something human, or a delicate motif shows strength and vulnerability at the same time.
Feelings need a form.
Many of my works deal with identity, change and the wish to be allowed to be yourself. Some grow out of my own experiences, others out of an observation or a feeling I don’t yet have words for. I like images that stir something and still leave room for your own story.
These thoughts also run through my paintings and objects. I love experimenting with materials and techniques, and I follow ideas even when I don’t know at first where they’ll lead.
Space to be yourself
I’m queer and neurodivergent. Both are part of me and shape how I perceive the world and relate to people. I know how exhausting it can be to constantly adapt or explain yourself. That’s why openness, clear communication and treating each other with care matter to me – including when I tattoo.
I want to create work in which you find something of yourself. And a setting in which you can say what you need.