Draft:Lily Lu

Lily Lu
Other name	Little Swastika
Known for	Tattooing, film, writing
Movement	Blackwork

Lily Lu (born 1986) is a German artist. She was born in southern Germany. She is based at Psyland25, her studio and art space in Tengen, near the Swiss border. Before her transition she was known as the tattoo artist Little Swastika, a name taken from the Buddhist symbol. Under that name she became known for large freehand tattoos, multi-person tattoo projects and a distinctive abstract style. She stopped tattooing in 2019. She now works as a filmmaker and author.

Tattooing

Lily Lu started tattooing professionally in the mid-2000s. She works freehand, without stencils. Early in her career she opened a studio called the Swastika Freakshop. It became known in the tattoo and body modification scene. Her style mixed tribal tattoos, modern blackwork and a scribbled, graffiti-like abstract line. She called this style Kritzel Krazel. Her work was published in tattoo magazines and books. She later closed the Swastika Freakshop. She said it was a reaction to the growing commercialisation of tattooing. She rarely appeared at conventions or as a guest artist. She worked from a private studio that only her clients could find. She later moved to the countryside and started Psyland25. It is not a normal tattoo studio. It is an art space, influenced by temples, where she treats tattooing as a ritual. She stopped tattooing around 2019 to make films.

Projects

Lily Lu became known for tattoos that use the whole body as one canvas and that spread across more than one person. She started with what she called "double backs", a single design tattooed across two people's backs. She then made larger multi-person pieces. For the project Love she tattooed one word across the backs of four people. The design is only complete when all four stand together. For The Third Dimension she tattooed one design across the backs of ten people. It was a cover story in Tätowier Magazin in December 2014. Another work, The Swastika, was tattooed across four backs and shown at an exhibition. In 2015 she worked with the band Amenra on a piece tattooed across three backs. It was finished on stage during a concert in Berlin.

Film

Lily Lu makes documentary and art films. Under the label Dirty Dreaz she directs adult art films that mix psychedelic aesthetics with explicit images. Vice reported on this work. Her films have been shown at film festivals. She also documents her life on YouTube, with cinematic vlogs about travel, ritual and philosophy, and short documentaries. Her life and work have appeared in documentaries and on larger YouTube channels.

Books

Lily Lu published her first two books in the early 2010s. She then self-published several art books, a colouring book and pattern studies. She also wrote a philosophy book about her view of life, The Box I Call Life, published in German, English and Spanish.

Television

Lily Lu has appeared in documentaries and on German television. She was the subject of a documentary on Arte Tracks. She appeared in YouTube documentary series such as Hooked on the Look and My Extraordinary Family, made by Truly, and on other channels. She is the main subject of the documentary Ink, Blood and Spirit. Her tattoo work has been shown in the international tattoo and mainstream press for more than two decades.

Name and identity

Lily Lu used the artist name Little Swastika. She used the swastika in its older meaning as a symbol of peace and luck, not the Nazi version. The name caused controversy. She is a trans woman. She has said she lived as male before she transitioned. She now uses the name Lily Lu.

References

Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:German tattoo artists Category:German film directors Category:German women artists Category:Women tattoo artists Category:Transgender women Category:LGBTQ people from Germany Category:Artists from Baden-Württemberg Category:People from Tengen