By Alessia Benelli
About twenty artists of national fame alternate in Massimo Miai’s studio-shop.
Works of art, limited edition sneakers, design and modern style objects and furniture, customized vintage t-shirts and jackets, drawings hung on the walls and an open laboratory where tattoo artists create their works on the skin of customers. This is the atmosphere you breathe upon entering Locus Womb. A festival of colours, sounds and objects that has nothing to envy to a US tattoo convention. Yet we are a stone’s throw from the Barberino del Mugello toll booth of the A1 motorway in the heart of the Florentine countryside.
Locus Womb is a unique place, it can be defined as a concept store oriented towards the tattoo world. His name says it all. Locus is the Latin term that indicates ‘place’ while womb means ‘womb’ in English. “I looked for a name that was able to convey the uniqueness of this place. Locus came by itself. The concept of ‘place’ has a double value. It can be understood as a built and organized space, in fact this environment recalls an architecture studio or a New York loft, and as a meeting place – crossroads – between tattoo and piercing artists” explains Massimo Miai, owner and creator of the shop-workshop “Womb, on the other hand – continues Massimo – represents the dimension of the creation of the artistic work”.
What would usually be the waiting room of a classic studio has been transformed into a concept store, i.e. a shop that sells various types of products (ranging from sneakers to prints and fanzines) related to the world of tattooing. In fact, for at least a decade, tattoos have no longer been a ‘simple’ artistic decoration but have constituted a real culture. From the waiting room you get to what Massimo defines as the ‘style office’, an artistic laboratory where, in addition to the creation of the preparatory drawings for the tattoos, graphic projects and collaborations with brands are developed. It is in this place that ‘Imperfect Techniques – Mugello Handpoke Festival’ was conceived and has become a regular appointment
at the beginning of June each year and which sees the participation of numerous tattoo artists from all over Italy.
“Our world – explains Massimo – has practically exploded with the arrival of social networks and their incredible growth due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We tattoo artists were forced to stop for months and started using digital platforms to make ourselves known. If up to ten years ago people went to a tattoo studio and asked for a certain design, today customers – even less experienced ones – look for their favorite tattoo artist via social networks. This trend had been on the rise for some years and forced imprisonment caused it to explode”.
“When the pandemic broke out – says Massimo – I had recently moved to Mugello. I didn’t intend to become the ‘tattoo artist of the country’ but I wanted to create something different. Thus was born Locus Womb. This place is easily accessible from all over Italy, it seems made for this type of activity. The tattoo artists who have joined the project are national level artists and have their own distinctive style. It is a real exchange of artistic, cultural and physical experiences”.
Locus Womb can be defined as a hub of needle artists: an avant-garde structure and one of the first of its kind in Italy. At the moment about twenty tattoo artists from all over Italy and two piercers alternate in the laboratory. The studio where the tattoos are created is made of glass, a peculiarity that allows you to watch the execution of the work even in the non-sterile part of the room. Clients can schedule their appointment directly with the tattoo artist at Locus Womb through the website. The tattoo artists are: Massimo Miai, Sauro William, Valentina lakali, trashflash666, Paolo esse, Leonardo Borri, Lorenzo Bertini, Son of ilio, Diego tattoo, Mila treaghi, Jonathan Harley, Ponzi, Vietti, dog tattoos, mba michele, cugnetto maledetto , brake for jackals. And the piercers are: call me gio hc, anele piercing. The Barberino studio-shop has a large car park and has an agreement with a hotel. This allows both customers and artists to arrive and possibly stay in Mugello for a few days to discover the beauties of our territory.
Info: Locus Womb, Via del Lago 31 – Uscita A1, Barberino di Mugello (Fi) / Tel. 055 19850744 / info@locuswomb.com / www.locuswomb.com