In early 2025, JOOPITER, the auction house by Pharrell Williams, announced INKED: Tattoos by Contemporary Artists, the first-ever auction of tattoos designed by contemporary artists. The house commissioned a group of 16 leading contemporary artists to create one-of-a-kind tattoos, installed onto the buyer by renowned tattoo artist Dr. Woo.

JOOPITER invited guest curator Sharon Coplan to build the roster of artists and develop the sale’s graphic identity. Working closely with Sharon and the JOOPITER team, I helped direct the photoshoot of models for the tattoos, mocked up the tattoos onto the bodies of the models, and designed the infographics and certificates of authenticity displayed at the auction’s launch at Dover Street Market Paris.

I worked in close collaboration with photographer Pamela Berkoviç to photograph three professional models for creating mockups of the tattoos to be sold. We directed the modelsto accentuate parts of their body (e.g. arms, legs, torso) where the artist specified their tattoos should be inked. To further highlight the design of each tattoo, we shot the models in grayscale. I then mocked up each tattoo in full color onto the models we shot.

Using these mockups, I created layouts for the lightbox inserts displayed at Dover Street Market Paris and the certificates of authenticity accompanying each tattoo.

It was a nice surprise to receive press coverage from Hypebeast, Vogue, and Wall Street Journal, among others.

Commissioned artists are as follows: Derrick Adams, Sarah Andelman, Thom Browne, Jeffrey Gibson, HAROSHI, Gabriela Hearst, Stephen Jones, Titus Kaphar, Peter Marino, Joel Mesler, Marilyn Minter, Adam Pendleton, Tavares Strachan, Lawrence Weiner, Mickalene Thomas, and Dr. Woo.