Built From the Chair Up
Tat2Nene grew up in Compton, CA, where he first found his way into art through drawing before picking up a machine. What started as a fascination with turning a photograph into something permanent became a career built on black & grey realism and portraiture — faces, tributes, and religious imagery rendered with the kind of detail that makes a tattoo look alive rather than inked on.
Today he owns Cultural Image Tattoo, where clients travel in from across the country and abroad specifically for his style. That reputation didn't stay confined to the shop floor. The same attention to shading, contrast, and composition that defines his tattoo work is now the foundation of this store — merch and prints designed with the same standard he holds a tattoo to.
This isn't a side project. Every piece here is meant to carry a piece of that world with it — the culture, the city, and the craft — whether or not you're ever in his chair.
- BasedCompton, CA / Cultural Image Tattoo
- StyleBlack & Grey Realism, Chicano-influenced, Street Culture
- Instagram@tat2nene
[This bio is a working draft — swap in Nene's own words where possible, especially around why he started the shop and what these designs personally mean to him. First-person quotes here would make this page much stronger.]