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In The Chair: Kyler Martz

Welcome to In The Chair, a series featuring interviews of our friends and collaborators.

This is Kyler. He’s an artist from the PNW. He designed our newest line of apparel. Oh, and tattooed a few of us.

Name: Kyler Martz. What do you do? Drawing, painting, tattooing, but mostly emails

Informed by vintage tattoo flash art and old American folklore, Kyler’s art borders on the playful and nostalgic. He’s an illustrator, muralist, and tattoo artist whose work can be found in some of the largest companies in Seattle, across buildings and neighborhoods, and on the bodies of some of Seattle’s luckiest clients.

Where's the weirdest place you've found inspiration? As cheesy as it sounds, you really can find inspiration anywhere if you look at it right. Except maybe Dallas, Dallas sucks. If you could tattoo anyone, living or dead, would it be and why? Anyone that wants to get something I've drawn without art-directing the fun out of it is my dream client. Maybe a pharoah though, I want to know if aliens showed them how to build pyramids. Cats or dogs? Can't pick one, they are both my favorite. If you could vandalize any piece of art, what would it be? I've been lucky not to have people fuck with any murals I'e done, so I wouldn't want to ruin that karma. You get to spend the night in any museum or gallery in the world. What's your choice? There is an aquarium in Japan that is big enough to hold whale sharks and manta-rays. That seems like a pretty cool place to fall asleep.

A fish is to water as Kyler Martz is to: Soy curls. If you weren't an artist, what would you be doing? Biologist or maybe carpenter or some kind of trades-person. One question I'm tired of answering is: Will you help me be a tattooer? (No, I won't). Describe the Pacific Northwest in one word: Oversaturated. Draw your dream hairstyle: The last time I thought I looked really cool was when I got a bowl cut in elementary school, but that look did not age well.

Image of Kyler's drawing on his iPad

Inspired by the hair menus of mom-and-pop barbershops, his creation pays homage to Seattle’s maritime roots with a not so subtle wink to some of the fishiest looks from the past few decades.

Image of Kyler Martz Tote Bag