Mike Pastore - Masterpiece Tattoo

Mike Pastore Profile

Mike Pastore knows ink. As owner/operator of Masterpiece Tattoo, Pastore is an award-winning tattoo artist whose work has been featured in virtually every major tattoo magazine and web site in America.

In less than five years since opening his Staten Island studio, Pastore has emerged as a rising talent on the ultra-competitive New York scene, most recently honored with an award at the annual New York City Tattoo Convention for his provocative "Black and Grey" renderings.

At a time when high-volume tattoo emporiums are springing up across the country, Masterpiece Tattoo's Mike Pastore is an exception to the rule, a throw-back with an intense attention to detail and a dedication to artistic integrity that has enabled him to build a fiercely loyal following, one piece at a time.

Staten Island, NYC Scene Emerging
In just the past 10 years, according to U.S. News & World Report, tattooing has emerged as one of America's fastest growing categories of retail business. There are now roughly 15,000 tattoo studios in operation as the once-taboo practice of body-marking continues to gain increased acceptance in the mainstream.

After more than 35 years of marginalization, New York City re-legalized tattooing in 1997 in response to a groundswell of public enthusiasm and demand. Today, tattoo artists explore their trade as never before in the five boroughs of New York City. Though the third largest and least populous of the five boroughs, Staten Island is emerging as a formidable force on the East Coast scene, producing a generation of artists, such as Pastore, that are ushering in innovations in tattoo artistry and body modification.

Some say artists are born, not made. Highly creative from an early age, Pastore actually discovered the path to his true calling indirectly, due in large part to the illegitimacy of Tattoo Artistry up until 1997. Born on June 29, 1974 in the Benson Hurst section of Brooklyn to a close-knit Italian American family, Pastore was raised in a middle-class home that was by no means privileged, where he learned true value of hard work, discipline, and integrity.

Though demonstrating artistic promise from a very young age, there were few outlets for expression in working-class Brooklyn. Therefore, in the fall of 1992, Pastore was accepted into the prestigious program at the School of Architecture at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).

While he applied himself diligently and excelled at all of the artistic-related disciplines of the demanding program, his performance was less than spectacular in areas beyond the scope of artistic expression.

It was during this time, as a member of the Theta Chi Fraternity, that Pastore unexpectedly stumbled upon what would be his lifelong passion, when a fraternity brother handed him a home-made tattoo gun. Over the next few months, Pastore found what he was searching for and left NJIT, despite having completed three years of the four-year program.

At the time, Pastore was not exactly a newcomer to the alluring sub-culture of body modification. Both his father and his uncles were adorned with plenty of pieces and he quickly immersed himself in the underground New York scene. (New York has traditionally been the epicenter of American Tattoo culture and it was in fact here that the electric tattoo machine was developed, producing a unique and profound influence in modern tattooing worldwide. That this creative process was pushed underground in the early 1960s when tattooing was banned in New York has only fueled its allure now that it has gone mainstream.)

The Enigma at Enigma Studios
Based on his burgeoning reputation, Pastore easily landed a position among a growing stable of artists working out of Studio Enigma, a string of studios owned by old-school tattoo impresario Carlo Fodera. (Now with some 10 studios located throughout the five boroughs, Enigma claims to be responsible for more than half of the tattoos done daily in NYC's five boroughs.)

It was during these formative years at Studio Enigma that Pastore began to develop his vision for Masterpiece Tattoo. Pastore left the Enigma fold in 2000, on favorable terms, though the mass-production model Enigma adhered to, with row after row of artists churning out high-volume work, would serve as the antithesis of Pastore's very personalized style.

"There is definitely a need in the industry for businesses like Enigma that deal in high volume," Pastore says. "But for me, tattooing is more personal, more about artistic expression. In that type of environment, for me at least, you just don't have the opportunity to develop your style properly."

"Whether you are a painter, a sculptor, a writer, or a tattoo artist, the process or artistic development never ends," Pastore says. "If you ever get to that point where you feel you have nowhere to grow, you've lost your passion."

Building a Studio "Piece by Piece"
After exiting Enigma, Pastore spent several months working out of his parent's garage, tattooing loyal customers who followed him out to Staten Island, which by that time was already developing a scene of its own, due in large part to the mass-migration of former Brooklyn residents to the borough.

Emboldened by his growing clientele and strengthened by the love and support of his close family - with parents so selfless that they actually mortgaged their home to provide seed funding - Pastore hung out his shingle on the busy commercial corridor of Richmond Ave. a mile from the Staten Island Mall.

"I built the interior of this studio with my bare hands, piece by piece," Pastore reflects. "I would do a piece for a customer and go to Home Depot to buy a piece of furniture. It was that tight, but I made it work."

Early on, Pastore was approached on several occasions with offers of venture capital investment that would have enabled him to more rapidly replicate the success of an Enigma -type operation.

"I knew, though, that with a partner, there would have been outside pressure to improve economic performance and cut corners," Pastore says. "This was not an option. This is more than just a business. This is my reputation, my passion, my artistic integrity. This is my life's work and what I was meant to do."

Intense Attention to Detail
Esquire Magazine reported that an estimated 1 in 8 Americans has a tattoo, while U.S. News & World Report claims that, on the average, a new studio opens every day in this country.

Life magazine estimated in 1936 that 10 million Americans, or approximately 6% of the population had at least one tattoo. The most recent Harris Poll, done in 2003, nearly triples those numbers and estimates that 16% of Americans now have one or more tattoos.

And, online search engine Lycos, which ranks the Top 50 search terms every week actually dropped the term "tattoos" from its poll because the term was so popular. (According to Lycos, "tattoos" rarely drops out of the top ten search terms requested on the Internet and it dropped the term because it wanted to make room for other searches.) Considering this avalanche of interest, it is not surprisingly that there are so many less qualified tattoo practitioners taking advantage of an unsuspecting public.

"There are hacks out there today that are wrecking people and have no business being in this business," Pastore warns. "Some people are just content with getting a mark on their bodies, usually because they are excited or intimidated. When you leave my studio, I want to make sure you'll be happy not just that day, but every day."

Pastore is somewhat unique, in that he will not accept a client unless he is completely confident he can meet and exceed expectations.

"I take this very seriously, because of the importance of the work," Pastore says. "This is not only their bodies, but a display of my work for everyone to see. So, I need to do everything I possibly can to ensure that the client's expectation and my vision are in complete harmony."

Pastore distinguishes himself more than anything through his fine attention to detail, encouraging his customers to take their time, review his portfolio, speak to some of the people he's done.

"Tattooing is not only about artistic expression, but an appreciation of the mechanics, such as the ability to draw consistent lines," Pastore says. "It seems so simplistic, but poor line work is a quick sign of an amateur, where you have varying thickness on the same line."

Unfortunately, as Pastore points out, unlike most professional services sectors where strict licensing is required, to tattoo, you simply need a standard license from the Board of Health.

Renaissance Man
While Pastore has many contemporary influences, such as artists in the Fantasy genre, by far his most profound inspirations emanate from the Renaissance, more specifically the Italian High Renaissance. This style endured for only a brief period (c.1495-1520) and was created by a few artists of genius, among them Leonardo da Vinci, Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian.16th century Italian High Renaissance style

The art of the High Renaissance, sought a general, unified effect of pictorial representation or architectural composition, increasing the dramatic force and physical presence of a work of art and gathering its energies and forming a controlled equilibrium. Because the essential characteristic of High Renaissance art was its unity--a balance achieved as a matter of intuition, beyond the reach of rational knowledge or technical skill--the High Renaissance style was destined to break up as soon as emphasis was shifted to favor any one element in the composition.

Pastore was particularly impacted by the work of Michelangelo. Michelangelo has come to typify the artist endowed with inexplicable, solitary genius. His universal talents are exemplified by the tomb of Julius II (c.1510-15), San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome; the Medici Chapel (1519-34), Florence; the SISTINE CHAPEL ceiling (1508-12) and Last Judgment (1536-41), Rome; and the cupola of SAINT PETER's BASILICA (begun 1546)--works that represent major and inimitable accomplishments in the separate fields of sculpture, painting, and architecture.

The Emotion of the Artistry
The launch of Masterpiece Tattoo unfortunately coincided with the aftermath of the tragic terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, which had a direct impact on Pastore's business, though not exactly in a manner you may think.

Staten Island was one of the hardest hit communities on 9/11, losing nearly 270 loved ones in the terrorist attacks on New York City that day.

Many among those dealing with the devastating losses sought Pastore to memorialize their loved ones.

"A memorial piece, especially of an event of this tragic magnitude, is unlike any other work," Pastore says. "From an artistic perspective, it is much more demanding, because there is less interpretation and much more realism. But from a personal perspective, it's exhausting, because you invest so much of yourself. It really becomes part of the grieving process and I just hope in some small way I helped some of my customers to cope. I have to say, though, I had some really emotional sessions that stay with me."

A Scene More than a Studio
Drop by Masterpiece Tattoo's studio on any given day and chances are you'll be welcomed by a colorful cast of characters, primed for a network TV reality show. Masterpiece Tattoo is more than a studio, it's a neighborhood gathering spot for local tattoo die-hards and budding novices alike to gather to compare work, check out Pastore's new designs, or simply just hang out as Mike and his apprentices work.

(With the exception of resident tattoo artist Echo 1 and Body Piercer Katelyn O'Brien, Pastore prefers to bring on apprentices, as opposed to hiring established artists, to better control quality and further develop Masterpiece Tattoo's distinct style.)

This is the epicenter of the rapidly growing Staten Island scene where today 99% come back and don't go elsewhere.

"But those few that do go elsewhere almost always come back, head hanging low, asking me to fix what they got done," says Pastore. "Which is fine with me. I'm not insecure or ultra-competitive like some artists."

But at Masterpiece Tattoo, don't expect to bargain. However, prices are a fraction of what you would pay at some of the top New York City studios, for the same quality.

"My purpose is to provide everyone who sits in my chair with the best possible quality at an affordable price," Pastore says. "But remember, there are some things in life that you should not be bargain hunting for."

In addition to custom designs and high quality service and attention, Pastore insists on exceeding generally accepted health practices, even as the U.S. Center for Disease Control's (CDC) downplays the probability of problems.

In its HIV/AIDS Surveillance Reports, CDC has consistently noted that it has documented "no cases of HIV transmission through tattooing" anywhere in the country since it began tracking such data in 1985. (By comparison, there have been at least 7 cases of HIV transmission associated with dentists and dental workers.)

And, of the 13,387 annual cases of hepatitis detailed in the most recent CDC report, only 12 are associated with tattoo studios. (By comparison, 43 cases -- or better than 300% more -- are associated with dental offices.)

In great demand these days, Pastore works long hours to accommodate a full schedule of appointments, though he is careful not spread himself too thin.

"This is my whole life, so I'm always here, because I know how important is to make myself available," Pastore says. "I appreciate my customers' loyalty, so I know I have to invest all of myself. But when you truly love what you do, vacations and time off are not as necessary."

Lastly, unlike other successful entrepreneurs, exponential economic growth is not a priority for Pastore.

"I am content doing what I am doing," he reflects, "and I think if you come back in 50 years, don't be surprised to see me right where I am now."