Untitled (Fatalitas) 

Dr. Lakra is not only an artist, but a tattooist. And he uses his tattoo machines to embellish sculptures with pictures, and to put tattoo-like patterns on the human figures he finds in old books and magazines. In Mexico, tattoos were once used by the indigenous peoples as marks of recognition or reward, but after Spanish colonization they became known as the mark of sinners. Conscious of this history, Dr. Lakra adds the kind of tattoos now used by criminal gangs to old picture postcards that depict bygone notions of beauty.
Incidentally, the word “lacra” used in the artist’s name is a Mexican slang word meaning to despise a bad person. It’s not in the dictionary, and he occasionally alters the spelling.
(KIMURA Eriko)