Leo Zulueta is an American

tattoo artist A tattoo artist (also tattooer or tattooist) is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a "tattoo shop", "tattoo studio" or "tattoo parlour". Tattoo artists usually learn their craft via an ...

. He is known as the "father of modern tribal tattooing."

Biography

Leo Zulueta was born in 1952 in a naval hospital in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

. He was born into a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Filipino American family. Zulueta spent his early years on the island of

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He attended San Diego State College in 1970, where he studied arts and crafts. During the 1970s he began to explore his interest in

Bornean traditional tattooing Borneo traditional tattooing is a hand tapping style of tattooing with two sticks, developed by some of the ancient tribes of Borneo. Borneo tattooing designs The most common of Borneo designs are thick black tribal work, which all have differen ...

. In 1976 he met

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

artist Don Ed Hardy, who encouraged him to become a

tattooist A tattoo artist (also tattooer or tattooist) is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a "tattoo shop", "tattoo studio" or "tattoo parlour". Tattoo artists usually learn their craft via an ...

. Zulueta started tattooing professionally in 1981. Zulueta's style of neo- tribal tattooing has been influential to other tattoo artists. In 1989, he was featured in the RE/Search publication '' Modern Primitives''. In 1992, Zulueta founded Black Wave Tattoo in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California, which he sold in 2000. In 2007, he was featured on

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an As ...

's ''Tattoo Wars'' with his protégé Rory Keating. Zulueta currently resides in

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, where he operates Spiral Tattoo.

References

External links

Leo Zulueta Spiral Tattoo
at RoryTattoo.''com'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Zulueta, Leo 1952 births Living people American artists of Filipino descent American tattoo artists Artists from Ann Arbor, Michigan Artists from Los Angeles Artists from San Diego People from Oahu