Stu Pagdin is a tattoo artist working from his studio, Meiji Tattoo, in Adelaide, Australia. With over 19 years of experience, he’s built a reputation for his Japanese tattooing. Alongside his tattoo practice, Stu explores a range of creative projects while travelling throughout Australia and internationally for guest spots and tattoo expos. Vault Editions caught up with Stu to learn more about his creative practice, which spans tattooing, skateboard graphics, art toys, and much more.

Kozik has been tattooing for over twenty years, and in that time, he has developed an impressive reputation and portfolio. His work merges botanical and animal imagery with dramatic macabre themes, creating unique and compelling tattoos that are intricate, dark, and beautifully considered. Today, he runs his private studio, Sanctum Studio, in Melbourne, Australia. Vault Editions caught up with Kozik to find out more about his career in tattooing and his creative process.

Eduardo Recife is a Brazilian artist, illustrator, and typographer whose work blurs the boundaries between analog and digital, memory and imagination. Known for his layered collages filled with vintage imagery, handwritten text, and fragments of type, Recife creates visual worlds that feel at once nostalgic and deeply personal. His multidisciplinary practice extends to typography and digital tools, with over 25 typefaces and a series of Photoshop resources that have influenced artists and designers worldwide. In this conversation, we discuss his creative process, his relationship with texture and typography, and the rich visual language he has created.

Tattoo artist, illustrator, and printmaker Billy Bernert is known for his blackwork and engraving-inspired tattoos. His practice channels the aesthetics of old woodcuts and copper engravings, drawing on the legacy of Albrecht Dürer and his contemporaries from the 15th century. Working from his studio, Sulphur Tattoo, in the German countryside, Billy captures and reimagines the visual power of the Old Masters while weaving in modern influences. His practice spans disciplines, from bold, one-off tattoo designs to illustrations and woodcuts he carves and prints himself, all rooted in the tradition and texture of historical printmaking.

Sydney-based tattoo artist and painter Celia Dunne specialises in black and grey realism, dark metal lettering, and abstract ornamental design. With 12 years of experience in the tattooing industry, she has established a reputation not only in her native Australia but also internationally, traveling for guest spots and conventions. Known for her relentless work ethic and dedication to the craft, Celia’s creative practice seamlessly transitions between tattooing, painting, and merchandise design, often collaborating with brands and fellow creatives to continually push her creative boundaries. 

Georgina Leung is a London-based tattoo artist, illustrator, and maker, born to Hong Kong immigrant parents and trained in Jewellery Design at Edinburgh College of Art. After nearly a decade working in commercial fashion as a senior jewellery designer, she founded Chop Stick n Poke (@chop_stick_n_poke) in 2020, a joyful, tattoo-inspired project born from creative burnout and a desire for something more personal. Her work blends playful flash tattoo-style illustrations with colourful nods to the Asian diaspora and everyday life.

Yuko Shimizu is a multi-award-winning Japanese illustrator based in New York City, with over 20 years of experience across a wide range of disciplines. In addition to her illustration practice, she is also an instructor at The School of Visual Arts. Her clients span major media, publishing, tech, and cultural institutions. Yuko is also a two-time Hugo Award nominee (2019, 2020) and a recipient of multiple Clio Awards (2023). She was awarded the Caldecott Honor in both 2021 and 2025 for her work on the children’s books ‘The Cat Man of Aleppo’ and ‘Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains’. In 2009, Newsweek Japan named her one of the “100 Japanese People the World Respects.”

David Booth, who also works under the pseudonym ghostpatrol, is a Lutruwita-born, Naarm-based artist whose practice shifts between studio works, site-specific installations, commissioned murals and commercial design. His work has been exhibited at and acquired by several leading institutions, including the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Museum and Parliament House Art Collection.

Nic Smith, also known as Soyboy, is a tattoo artist and illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia. His creative practice draws from a rich blend of visual references, including Biblical iconography, Greco-Roman mythology and sculpture, the natural world, and classical art movements. Working somewhere between illustrative fineline, blackwork, and stippled realism, his tattoos balance technical precision with expressive detail and symbolic depth.