The skin as canvas, inks and needles replacing the palette: tattoos by Khan transcend mere decorations. Whether he is depicting eye crinkles in a portrait of the Dalai Lama or the leer of a supernatural ghoul, his rich color and technical realism redefines the boundaries of art and pop culture.
Born Park Sung Gyun in South Korea, Khan, 40, gave up a promising career as an architect 10 years ago to learn traditional Japanese tattooing.
He explains about the professional name he uses as a tattoo artist: "I am Korean, but I started this art in Japan, so I wanted to mix both together." The kanji he uses is pronounced "kan" in Japanese and means "Korea." In the Korean language, it is read as "han." Khan's work has been featured in tattoo magazines and venues all over the world, but for Khan, it's about the challenge to create beauty, whatever the form.