TORA SUMI - Artist Spotlight: Peque

If you already know, you know. If you don’t, let us introduce you to the legend himself, Peque VRS, one our many talented resident tattoo artists here at Tora Sumi.

Whether it be his tattoo work, his extensive portfolio as a mural artist or his talents in airbrushing, many only know one part of Peque’s career. We recently sat down with the humble multi-hyphenate to explore a bit of his history as an artist, even though the man himself will tell you to ‘never get stuck in the past’.

Born into a family of 7 brothers and 5 sisters, Peque spent his youth and developmental years in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. From the age of 13, he started tagging the neighbourhood walls with graffiti and by the age of 14 (keep in mind it was a different time and world to what we know today!) he began tattooing with a homemade machine made with guitar strings, a toy-car motor and and battery. He fashioned his ink caps from Coke bottle caps and was soldering his own needles!

Tattooing was a big taboo culturally, and especially in the prevalent gang culture in Mexico at the time. His first tattoo was of a diamond sketch that was noticed by a couple of guys from his neighbourhood. At the age of 17, he began a business painting cars, especially lowriders which are synonymous with Mexican Chicano culture. He used all of these experiences as an artist to never stop learning, and is demonstrated by taking his passions and combining them with a fine arts degree from Mexico’s National School of Plastic Arts.

With a rich involvement in his native culture, Peque is proud to represent Mexico here in Australia and also take new inspirations from his new home. Moving permanently here after his second daughter was born, Peque eventually found himself working at Tora Sumi just to practice and subsequently, his professional tattooing career took off. At Tora Sumi’s grand opening, Peque even painted a mural in front of a live audience.

Peque is known to always be a thankful character as he embraces his humble beginnings and always uses his early career as a frame of reference for his artistic growth and development over his 30 active years. He is very passionate about his artistic ethos of never assuming.

“Never assume you know everything. There is always new material and processes of creating. My teacher taught me, whatever you have in your vicinity can be used to create art,” says Peque.

His attitude to always create and innovate with what he has available has made Peque one of our most versatile artists and an incredibly talented addition to our team. Whether you would like a Chicano-styled tattoo, some basic script, or a one-off custom design, Peque is happy to work with your ideas to give them the artistic flair they deserve to live on your skin for life!