Trash Polka Tattoo Designs

Trash polka is a tattoo style created by Simone Plaff and Volko Merschky at Buena Vista Tattoo Club in Germany. Volko describes it as a combination of “realism and trash; the nature and the abstract; technology and humanity; past, present, and future. Opposites that they are trying to urge into a creative dance to harmony and rhythm in tune with the body.”

The main characteristic of the style is sharp contrasts: complicated photorealism and clarity of graphics; black and red coloring; totally inked areas combined with large empty spaces. There are actually a lot of styles and elements in one pattern. Lettering, geometrical elements, photo-realistic and naturalistic elements create really breathtaking designs.

It’s believed that only original trash polka tattoos made by Plaff and Merschky are true illustrations of the style. That’s also true that not every tattoo master works with this style because it’s fresh and highly creative. Still, if you want to have a trash polka tattoo you should choose a big area for this — the designs require large space. And the best thing about trash polka tattoos is that you can include every pattern you want to — you don’t have to choose between the contradictory ones!