@korl_ink_ 

📍Denver, Colorado, USA

My name is Nikolay Kibkalo, I’m 34 and originally from Norilsk, Russia. I was a professional breakdancer before moving to Denver, Colorado, where I began searching for a new passion. I’ve always loved drawing and was deeply inspired by a tattoo artist I met at 21, who taught me to value the meaning behind every tattoo. After losing my job, I committed to learning tattooing—studying daily, practicing academic drawing, and learning from YouTube. My first apprenticeship ended badly, but I gained experience and eventually joined to my first tattoo shop. I continue improving my skills, studying new techniques, exploring characters from games, anime, and comics, and building my client base. I’m passionate about creating meaningful, unique tattoos and still love learning through art and social media.

I almost immediately decided that I would work exclusively with color (after doing my first color tattoo). First, the process feels much more dynamic to me, and I engage in a sort of dialogue with my work, gradually filling it with shades. Second, there was a sense of challenge when tattoo artists would say, “Color is hard and difficult.”I really enjoy creating characters from visual pop culture. I’m also gradually starting to experiment with form, content, and storytelling in tattoos, aiming to expand people’s perception and bring something new to the industry. I like to trick the eye and endlessly experiment with how the eye perceives information from an object.