What is my style called?

At its core — Trash-polka.

This relatively young tattoo style was created in Germany by two designers — Volko Merschky and his wife Simone Pfaff. It’s believed the style was formed in the 1990s, though the couple had already been exploring it since the 1970s. They cut posters from magazines, capturing the reality around them and putting it on display — not accepting the harsh world as it was and inspiring others to act.

Creating a tattoo design in the trash polka style is very similar to collaging various cutouts from newspapers

At a glance, many think trash polka is just a mix of black and red ink. But that’s not true — the style has its own unique design elements and a strong conceptual foundation.

So, what defines this style?

• The imagery is often dark and provocative, touching on topics like politics, religion, or art

• Technically, it’s a collage of realism, lettering, lines, and splashes — elements that seem unrelated at first glance

• There’s no focus on tenderness, so the line between “male” and “female” motifs is minimal

• It often uses unnatural perspectives and proportions to create distorted, unbalanced visuals

• Backgrounds and smooth gradients are mostly avoided in favor of direct, high-contrast visuals

Today, tattoo styles have blended together a lot, and even trash polka can be done in many different ways. I experiment too: these days, I often add geometric shapes into the design and completely avoid gradients in red, using sharp edges instead. Still, I usually stick to the core elements — and that’s what helps make my tattoos so memorable for you.

Almost any idea can be done in my style. I’d love to hear your thoughts! You can check out my work in this album.