5 Nov 2026
Kunst Speak With Brask - Jeffrey Sypherd
Welcome to Kunst Speak with Brask. In this podcast, we explore the world of art through the eyes of passionate art enthusiasts based in Los Angeles and New York. Together with art collector, publisher, and curator Jens-Peter Brask, we uncover inspiring perspectives, captivating stories, and memorable anecdotes from the art world. Our mission is to spark curiosity and encourage more people to connect with and appreciate art in all its forms. Join us as we embark on this creative journey together.
In this episode, we visit tattoo artist and painter Jeffrey Sypherd in his studio in Brooklyn, New York. Jeffrey has spent the past 15 years working as a tattoo artist, having started at the age of 21. At the same time, painting has been a part of his life for as long as he can remember. Although he had always painted, it was not until he moved from California to New York in 2018 that he began to develop a more serious and dedicated painting practice.
When Jeffrey first arrived in New York, he started working in a traditional street shop, tattooing clients while continuing to explore painting independently. For several years, these two practices existed alongside one another, each occupying its own space in his creative life. Tattooing was his profession, while painting offered a different kind of freedom and an opportunity to explore his ideas beyond the constraints of working on the human body.
Over time, however, the boundaries between the two disciplines began to blur. In 2023, Jeffrey made the decision to bring tattooing and painting together, creating a practice in which the two forms of expression could inform and influence one another. Since then, he has continued to develop this combined approach, exploring the connections between images made on skin and those created on canvas.In our conversation, we talk about Jeffrey’s journey between these two worlds and what it means to build an artistic practice that draws on both. We explore how his experience as a tattoo artist has shaped the way he approaches painting, and how the discipline, immediacy and visual language of tattooing can translate into a different medium.
We also discuss the transition from working in a traditional tattoo shop to developing a more integrated artistic practice, and how moving to New York became an important turning point in his career. For Jeffrey, the relationship between tattooing and painting is no longer a question of choosing one over the other, but rather of finding ways for the two to coexist and enrich each other.
Through his work, Jeffrey challenges the distinction between tattooing as a craft and painting as a fine art, exploring how both can become part of a broader visual language. His story is one of artistic evolution, experimentation and the search for a practice that reflects the different sides of his identity as an artist.
You can find Kunst Speak with Brask on Spotify and everywhere else you normally listen to podcasts. If you enjoy the series, feel free to give us a few stars! Tune in.
@curatedbyjenspeterbrask
@jeffsypherd
