Jonathan Martinez
Jonathan Martinez is a body modification artist whose repertoire includes implants, piercing, scarification and suspension. He is currently (as of April 2010) working the Netherlands.
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Beginnings
Martinez was born in Venezuela in 1980. At 15, while living in Caracas and trying to get his first tattoo, which, due to family reasons, he could not get yet, sparked his interested in body modification.
Later, he became interested in body piercing. He self-pierced and experimented on himself. At 16, he pierced his nipple and then his navel (which he later removed) and both lobes. One day, he received a telephone call from a tattoo shop, close to the university where he studied. He was interviewed and started working there the next day.
He left thet shop when he turned 20, and a week later, he received a call from Tattoo Galery and was asked to work there. He worked at Tattoo Galery until leaving the country and traveling to Spain.
Development
At 19, he became interested in more extreme modifications such as implants, strike branding and scarification. He started to practice these upon joining Tattoo Galery, with the aid of a Medical Surgeon who offered his help.
- "It’s incredible, but after so much research and investigation you can imagine things that even a licensed Doctor can’t imagine. You feel a high level of satisfaction when you can converse with a professional and explain things that are not taught at a Medical School but are possible, and the results are great…"
At the beginning of the year 2000, he performed his first implants and followed that with his first Suicide Suspension, at a national tattoo convention held in the city. This lead him to try new suspensions such as Coma suspensions, Knee suspensions and O-Kee-Pa suspensions.
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The concept which he develops to perform body modifications is quite subtle. He shies away from grotesque things.
- "When I am going to perform a job on someone you must have certain criteria present; not all bodies are the same; we can not use generalizations; what works for one person may not work for someone else. I have a subjective concept of aesthetics and consider that the greatest gratification that I obtain is that people feel comfortable and fulfilled with the job well done that helps improve aspects in their life…"
Throughout his career, he has been able to perform a range of very simple jobs to more complex ones. Within the most typical piercings, his preference are genital piercings, such as ampallangs, dydoes, scrotals, transscrotal piercings, Prince Albert piercings, clitoral hoods and clitoral piercings. He also enjoys surface piercings and ear cartilage piercings such as conch, helix and tragus due to the complexity of proper healing. In regards to implants, his most requested work is genital beading (due to his less traumatic technique in reference to the most traditional technique used) as well as arm implants, horn Implants and chest implants. For these, he follows a very specific and adequate suture technique. He has also become very sought after for his scalpelled piercings, mostly in navels, Prince Alberts and nipples.
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Among his more extreme work, you can also see subincision work, meatotomy work, large scarification works, ear pointing, frenum removal and earlobe reconstruction.
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One of the things that contributed to his professional development has been the manufacture of specialized tools for each modification; elevators for implants, insertion pins for complex perforations. He has manufactured every piece used for insertion under the skin, to ensure the specific measurements needed for each person.
Practice is not the only thing that has helped him to develop his skills further. Jonathan is always investigating and exploring new techniques. He also takes great care in other important areas such as hygiene and professional ethics, to such a degree that, in 2002, he created the first project for the creation of a nationwide tattoo artists and piercers association in Venezuela. He completed this project, but it wasn’t put into action due to the political, economic and cultural crisis that the country is currently going through.
- "It is impossible to make the health authorities in Venezuela understand the risk that the population is under if the tattoo and piercing shops do not comply with the minimum hygiene regulations …"
Despite this, he always tries to pass on information when possible and feels obligated, as divulging certain information will help the evolution of all Body Art. He also writes a column for Tattoo.com.ve.
When he left Venezuela, Martinez worked in Madrid for a short period of time for the official Zinova distributor in Spain. He then traveled to the city of Granada where he carried out (and continues to carry out)with Beth, one of the most important projects of his life—MODIFICATE.
His Modifications
Martinez has, acquired numerous modifications, most of them carried out by himself:
- 2 Helix 14 gauge (retired).
- Labret 14 ga. (retired).
- Tongue 8 ga.
- Nipples 2 ga.
- Navel 8 ga.
- 10 Scrotal ladder 14 ga.
- Prince Albert 8 ga.
- Septum 14 ga. By Javier, (Tattoo Galery).
- Earlobes 4 mm. and then self stretched via Scalpelled Lobe to 7 mm, (to relocate).
- Self standard stretched Earlobes to 20 mm.
- 7 Genital Beading, By Javier (Tattoo Galery)later revised himself.
- chest star implant.
- "XXX" abdominal Strike Branding, By Javier, (Tattoo Galery).
- various tattoos by various Tattoo artists
- “My career will never end; there is always something new to learn; the most important thing is to always enjoy your work, with simplicity and humility, recognizing who does good work and accepting it. I do not go through life trying to be a body modification rock star; I do not like talking bad about colleagues, even if I think their work is not correct, nor do I make my life a public domain so that people will ask for my autograph …”
Acknowledgements
- 2000: 2nd Place Best Piercing. Tattoo Night, Venezuela.
- 2000: Best Piercing. I Big Tattoo Expo Yaracuy, Venezuela.
- 2000: Best Piercing. Petroleo Tattoo Zone, Venezuela.
- 2001: Best Piercing. Petroleo Tattoo Zone, Venezuela.
- 2001: Best Piercing. Art on the skin II, Venezuela.
- 2001: Best Unusual Piercing. National Tattoo Meeting, Venezuela.
- 2003: Best Unusual Piercing. Art on the Skin, 2003. Venezuela.
- 2003: Most Pierced Body. Art on the Skin-2003, Venezuela.
- 2003: Best Unusual Piercing. Extreme Tattoo Festival, Venezuela.
- 2003: Best Piercing. V Big Tattoo Expo., Venezuela.
- 2003: Best Unusual Piercing. V Big Tattoo Expo., Venezuela.
- 2003: Special Award. V Big Tattoo Expo., Venezuela.
Trivia
- At 15, Martinez decided to study Medicine, interested mainly in Neurosurgery, Gynecology and Plastic Surgery, but his family would not help him financially, so he settled for Business Administration.
- He got his first tattoo at 17, this time not caring what would happen with his family.
- He was the first Venezuelan to perform suspensions in Venezuela and the first to perform implants.
- Among his next modifications will be his tongue split, circumcision and meatotomy.
- He is not happy with just practicing one type of suspension and prefers variety.