Ink Crush :: Minka Sicklinger

When you live in NY , there's too many options of places to go that you end up going to the same ones. One day I decided I wanted to go to a different area, since I always end up in Brooklyn (because I live there). So I went with my lover to Alphabet City in the East Village. Walking around I saw this beautiful tattoo parlor called East Side Ink and I immediately had to enter. I grabbed the first book I saw just to see what kind of artists they had. To my surprise the book I was drooling about was from this amazing ethnic flapper punk chick called Minka Sicklinger. It was love at the first sight. I didn't only love her black and white, simple, lineal illustrations but her style is extraordinary.

I'm digging the twist Minka gives to traditional tattoo. How she plays off with ancient indigenous influences and all the detailing she puts into all her work. She studied Fine Arts and then started a career as a fashion stylist. When she arrived to New York in 2007 illustration began to take over her styling work and now she works on skin, canvas, skateboards and textiles. 

Check out all her work at http://www.minkasicklinger.com

For tattoo appointments contact:
Eastside Ink
97 Ave B (between E6th & E7th St
New York NY 10009
ph: (212) 477-2060
www.eastsideinktattoo.com

ϟϟ Coachella ϟϟ

1. Tribal Hoodie Blouse       2. Festival Fringe Vest            3. Nativa Tunic

17 days for Coachella! I remember the first and only time I went there, with my good friend Maide in 2006. We flew from PR to LA, then we rented a car and drove about 2 more hours to Indio Valley, CA. We arrived the 1st day of the festival and we where already exhausted. We did the camping thing to see Depeche Mode, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Daft Punk, Madonna, Sigur Ros, Ladytron, Massive Attack and a whole lot more great bands. I only wish we knew who Devendra Banhart & Eagles of Death Metal where at that musical time in our lives because they where in that lineup as well. I'm writing this and I wish they did lineups now as good as the old ones! We went for the whole 3 days. We felt we could have skipped the last day. We where extremely tired and we left in the middle of the last day  to catch our flight back to PR. 

I think Coachella is something you need to do before you die and not to go straight from a plane. Just make sure you go with a good friend like Maide that is up for anything and knows how to party hard without turning you into her babysitter. It's also a good excuse to get a new outfit and dress however you want! Feathers, glitter, body paint, wigs, flowers, wear whatever you want but FLIP FLOPS! They break very easily. I always see a missing flip flop and I just feel sorry that there's someone hanging out with just one shoe and that sucks! Talking about Flip Flops and festivals, check out this funny video!

If you're still looking for the perfect attire, check out the Mexican Festival Fringe Leather Vest.I think this babe will rock the hell out of you. Make sure you don't miss Cafe Tacuba! Those guys give an awesome show!!! They're full of adrenaline and good music. We're also dying to listen to the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album so if you're going, please update us with their performance and new songs, we'll highly appreciate it ;)

Get more clothing ispiration at www.shopcoyotenegro.com

Images via Joel Sossa & Flickr

HOME IS WHERE YOU ARE

I come from a place where hitchhiking or trainhopping doesn't exist. I even learned the "hitchhiking" term last year. It has always been seen to me as something they do on films and stuff like that, until last year. We went on a roadtrip from Oregon to Arizona and it was the first time we experienced this amazing culture. We didn't know how to react to it since where I come from you could get easily killed picking up a stranger in the middle of the road. Here seems to be a very natural thing to do. I felt a desire to do it as well and experience total freedom, just leaving all the material shit behind and survive, eat, sleep, think, write, shoot, move, learn, LIVE. It seems weird but I always liked the idea of the zombie apocalypse and just surviving. I guess I'm being too extreme and a zombie attack is not necessary to live on the road.

When I read The Dharma Bums it just intensified that desire (except for eating so much canned food) but it made me think that it was only something possible to do back in the day. Specially if you're a girl, it seemed to me a very scary move. But looking at this amazing series of pictures by Mike Brodie made me realize it is still a very possible thing to do, but not by myself. Mike, with a polaroid camera, spent 4 years on the roads of US with this group of youngsters documenting his and their explorations making of this experience a true collection of American travel photography. Although he has stopped making photographs, the body of work he made in four short intense years has left an enduring impact on the photo world. I truly admire and have a deep respect for these people and I'm very thankful that Mike Brodie documented this. I think this guy has made history.

Make sure to check out the entire collection (which I almost put everything here) on his website.