Founded by Marcus (Horiryu II) — an award-winning tattoo artist — the studio is dedicated to preserving, studying, and evolving the traditions of Asian tattoo art, blending classical techniques with a modern Vancouver sensibility.
Marcus began his tattoo journey in 2015, at just 18 years old, when he entered a traditional apprenticeship under Horiryu I. Over seven transformative years, he immersed himself in the discipline of Japanese tattooing — studying under visiting artists from Japan, traveling across North America for conventions, and earning multiple awards for excellence in Japanese and Asian traditional work.
Marcus specializes in traditional Japanese tattooing — wabori, irezumi and horimono. His work is built on the classical motifs of the tradition: dragons, koi, tigers, phoenixes, hannya, deities, warriors and mythic creatures, framed by the wind, water and flower backgrounds that hold a Japanese piece together.
At this point in his career he is deliberately selective. Marcus now takes on large-scale work only — bodysuits, backpieces and full sleeves, with a minimum size of a half sleeve. Working at that scale is what allows a piece to be composed properly: every design is drawn by hand and laid out to flow with the body rather than sit on it, which is the whole point of wabori.
