Lajos Tornyosi Jr., 48, has been working as a tattoo artist for ages. He loves his job, which allows him to fully express his creativity; the only downside is that, as a service provider, he can’t express himself freely because of the client’s vision, so he always feels like something is missing.

What led you to become an artist?

The eureka came when a colleague of mine showed me some oil painting techniques, and from then on there was no question of what I could do for a living.

When did you start doing art?

As soon as I first got hold of paper and pencil, later I generally got closer to art by copying the covers of metal albums, they also conditioned my vision towards the dark direction, traces of which can be found in my current works.  

What techniques and tools do you use to create your paintings? 

I would like to use oil, but due to the circumstances I chose acrylic. I usually use cans to start with a rough sketch, then I refine it with markers, outline the character, a little airbrush, then with a brush, then I start all over again, I use many layers until I reach the strength of the colors, so the most images min. It also takes 30 hours.

What inspires your art?

I try to be inspired by pros and cons, in short hashtags: hoax, conteo, eastern philosophies, religions, folklore, primal religion, symbolism, mythology, poetry, rap lyrics, alter music, everything that turns on the light inside, gives that certain a-ha feeling, which bring you closer to understanding what is going on, why are we even on this planet :)

What messages do you convey with your works?

I think of my pictures as a kind of mail in a bottle, which when they find them, they open them up, maybe they start questions in their heads, in today's over-accelerated insta world, the majority just scroll on without trying to understand what they see :/  I examine the problems of the present, future and past, letting them pass through my personal filter, bitter- in sweet mode:) I am most interested in the pop surreal comic style, the message is perhaps acceptance, understanding things, releasing conditions, and the world frog of course:)

Could you introduce one of your paintings that is closest to you in a little more detail?

Each picture is a stepping stone for me, I don't really have a favorite, each one is a kind of impression of the current period when it was taken. Perhaps the picture entitled 'Chance to Change', the size of which was 160×110 cm, was a 'breakthrough' compared to the others, definitely in terms of quality and depth.

I was mostly inspired by Foky Otto's puppets from my childhood, of which Oriza Triznyák is my favorite character. I present Oriza as the protagonist of situations, as if the puppet show continues in this surreal drift in which we live.

The title of the picture refers to the fact that you don't get enough chances if you don't have the inclination to change, the comfort zone is a cage closed to ourselves, the eureka-headed Oriza may have realized this in the bathtub :)

What does the logo on your website represent?

A logóm egy kabbalából vett szimbólum felfelé mutató háromszög, amit kicsit pár vonallal térbelivé alakítottam, úgy hogy nézheted úgy is hogy benne vagy, vagy alulnézetből látod, optikai játék, de a körbe foglalva a duálisból triálissá válik, 1+1= 3 🙂

How do you think people relate to paintings?

I don't really think about it, and if they criticize me I'll stop :) Anyway, it's interesting who sees what in it, often it's also inspiring if it's completely different from what I see in them, I had a couple of appearances with them where they were mostly interested and asked me why, the combinatorics started, it's a good feeling :)  

Have you ever thought about presenting your work as a mural?

I once did a graffiti on a legal wall, it wasn't finished, I haven't gone back to finish it since then, even though it keeps attracting me, I really enjoyed it, but I prefer to blow in my small studio room. 

What are you currently working on and what are your future plans?

Now an Entangled c. in the picture, Oriza caught in the web of algorithms, something like that. There are plans, many sketches, which I leave to mature in the drawer, if the material increases, I would like to show them in a wider circle within the framework of an individual or group exhibition with similar artists.