Mario Gregor
Custom Tattoo Artist
Wairarapa, NZ
About Me
I am a tattoo artist based at Konstantin Studio in Featherston, NZ.
Best known for my dynamic and vibrant colour tattoos of NZ native birds, colourful flowers, portraits (of people and animals), and reproduction of classic paintings as tattoos, I also love working in black and grey.
I was born in Czechoslovakia under communist rule - a time and place where individuality and creativity were potentially dangerous. After the fall of the regime I was able to attend university, but was still expected to study a "proper career" so I studied mechanical engineering.
It was only after I traveled to new Zealand and made it my new home that I could finally pursue what I really love - art.
In 2012 I started tattooing and in 2015 I opened my own tattoo studio - The Gallery Custom tattoo in Wellington, New Zealand.
I am fortunate to be sponsored by two of my favourite companies-
Media
Konstantin Studio
Konstantin is one half of Perpetua and Konstantin Studios - named after my grandparents back home in Slovakia. The studios sit side by side on Fitzherbert St in Featherston, NZ, and embody a place of creativity, community and family.
My partner, Ceara Lile and I dreamed up the concept of these studios while we were travelling around the Far North on our motorbike in 2018. The more we spoke our ideas to one another, the more sense it made as a way to connect to our home - to give us a sense of place, calm and belonging in our work life. Once we thought of the name/s the idea began to take on a life of its own.
Perpetua and Konstantin were hard-working, creative, family-and-community-minded people. Konstantin was a hands-on engineer who built the family home I grew up in (and my family still lives in). Perpetua crafted handmade linens from scratch with her loom.
Neither are common names in Slovakia (where they were from). However, both Perpetua and Konstantin mean everlasting or constant and reflect the work that we both do. For tattoo they relate to the permanence of the art in the skin and my drive to constantly develop and improve my art. For Ceara, at Perpetua Studio, the names underscore her drive to create ethical, slow and eco-friendly fashion and homewares.
We are excited to share our creative home with you!
