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Kian Forreal (Horisumi)

Traditional Japanese (tebori and machine)

Authentink, Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia

Kian Forreal, who works as Horisumi, is a Canadian-born traditional Japanese tattooer based in Sydney, where he founded the studio Authentink in 2013. The same year he was given the name Horisumi by the Japanese master Horiyoshi III.

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Archive Note

Forreal learned to tattoo in Toronto and counts 1993 as the start of his professional career, working and traveling internationally across North America, Europe, and Asia for about two decades before settling in Australia in 2007. In 2013 he founded Authentink in Surry Hills, Sydney, and received the name Horisumi from Horiyoshi III, one of Japan's most prominent traditional tattoo masters. He specializes in traditionalist Japanese tattooing at large bodysuit scale, composing full backs, sleeves, ribs, chest, and legs to join together, and works both by machine and by the Japanese hand method known as tebori, which he learned in Japan. The Horisumi name is a documented honor given to him by Horiyoshi III.

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