Cherry Tattoo
By Andrew Funk
My intention for this project is to make the giant cherry blossom sculpture look similar to how cherry blossoms are traditionally depicted in classic Japanese style tattoos. Since our national cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin were a gift from Japan I thought it would be a good way to represent their contribution to our city. The way in which they are typically designed in Japanese tattooing is also how they’re done in American Traditional (Sailor Jerry etc.) tattooing as well so it seems especially appropriate for this project.
Throughout the 2021 Festival, this sculpture was located at City Center DC. This sculpture is now located at a private residence in Washington, DC.
Andrew Funk
Alexandria, VA
My style of art developed from seeing graffiti as a little kid in NYC, and then not long after we moved to DC, when I would take the Metro I would see all the walls that were painted on the Redline. The colors and motion of the art while riding a train fascinated me. After having an amazing art history teacher in college, I also fell in love with the Baroque and Impressionist movements. I try to capture those styles together with a mix of 70s rock and roll posters. I have done a lot of work in DC with Tom Pipkin and Ian Callendar for Blind Whino. I painted multiple murals for the ultra-popular Pop Up bar in DC’s Shaw neighborhood, including the Game of Thrones and Cherry Blossom Bars. I did all the new murals for the interior of 3 Stars Brewing Company and had the honor of assisting in the restoration of the infamous Marilyn Monroe mural on Calvert St in Woodley Park. Most recently I started a volunteer mural program in Baltimore where we offer businesses paintings for free and have the neighborhood kids get involved — we show them how to paint and beautify places that are neglected and need some color and love. For this year’s Cherry Blossom public art exhibition, I got to paint two of the 3D blossom sculptures. One was displayed at downtown’s CityCenter and the other at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in DC’s Brookland neighborhood.