Losing an arm can be a devastating setback for anyone, especially if one’s passion in life is centred around tactile handwork. This setback didn’t stop French tattoo artist J.C. Sheitan Tenet from honing his drawing skills.
Having lost his right arm at the age of 10, Tenet had to adapt the way he created artworks early in life. Years later, he met artist Jean-Louis Gonzal at a local tattooing convention who had some of his unique biomechanical sculptures on display.
Gonzal is known for his strange mechanised taxidermy animals and hybrid skeleton sculptures. It was there that Tenet and Gonzal started discussing the feasibility of an augmented prosthesis that would allow Tenet to draw tattoos with his right arm again.
Two prototypes later, Tenet’s prosthetic tattoo machine was created. It is made of a basic prosthetic shell, discarded sewing machine parts and mechanisms of a record player. The Terminator-like prosthesis allows Tenet to continue his tattoo practice in Lyon and create artworks in a totally unique way.
