From Tattoo to Fabric

noSHBerlin begins with images that often come from tattooing.

A tattoo drawing is created with the body in mind. It has to consider placement, movement, scale, skin, distance, and the way an image will age over time. It is never only a drawing on paper. From the beginning, it already imagines another surface.

Moving from tattoo to fabric does not mean simply copying an image onto clothing. It means translating it. A line made for skin behaves differently when it becomes embroidery. A shape that works on the body changes when it is placed on a hoodie or a t-shirt. The image has to be reconsidered through thread, texture, weight, color, and everyday use.

This translation is central to noSHBerlin. The project follows the movement of an image from drawing to tattoo, from tattoo to embroidery, from embroidery to clothing, and finally into daily life. Each step changes the image, but also keeps something from its origin.

Some images used in noSHBerlin were first made for tattoos. Others come from the same visual world: charcoal drawing, medieval references, classical imagery, religious painting, contemporary tattoo culture, and urban observation. When they move into fabric, they do not become merchandise. They become another version of the same work.

Embroidery is important because it gives the image a physical presence. It is slower, more tactile, and more permanent than a flat print. The thread sits on the surface. It casts small shadows. It changes with light. It allows the drawing to become part of the object, not just something placed on top of it.

This is why the process matters. A hoodie is not treated as a neutral support. It becomes a surface with its own conditions, just like skin or paper. The weight of the fabric, the color of the piece, the size of the embroidery, and the position of the image all affect how the work is experienced.

The movement from tattoo to fabric also changes the relationship between image and body. A tattoo stays permanently on skin. A hoodie can be worn, removed, folded, washed, damaged, kept, or passed on. It is less permanent, but still intimate. It lives close to the body and becomes part of ordinary gestures.

For noSHBerlin, this is where the project becomes interesting: when an image leaves the studio and begins to be used. A drawing can become a tattoo. A tattoo can become embroidery. Embroidery can become clothing. Clothing can become part of someone’s everyday life.

From tattoo to fabric is not a secondary step.

It is another way for the image to continue.