DRAFT: “Visceral Alchemy”
Carbondale Arts presents Visceral Alchemy a group invitational exhibition curated by Sarah Overbeck and Matt Hays at the Carbondale Arts Gallery, on display May 29 - July 3, 2026.
The opening reception will take place Friday, May 29, from 5-7pm at The Launchpad, with an artist talk at 5:30pm. See the artists in action Saturday, May 30, from 11am-6pm with live tattooing out of The Launchpad. See artist information below.
Visceral Alchemy refers to a profound, and intuitive transformation of self. What greater transformation than creating (or receiving) artwork that lasts a lifetime? Tattooers are incredible artists– they are constantly creating, often taking requests from someone else's dream or idea and turning it into an original piece of art.
With roots as a misfit's subculture, tattoos are now mainstream. Many tattooers are formally educated and continue to create outside of their occupation. Does their profession inform their personal artwork, or vice versa? Could one exist without the other? This curated, invitational, group exhibition explores that relationship and takes a deeper look at the fine art side of the tattooing industry.
“Tattooing is my first love... but as a medium it’s quite unforgiving. By contrast painting is pure freedom. I’m free to enjoy the journey of a process that’s allowed to evolve as I go. There’s the freedom to say whatever I want or nothing at all. I do it for the joy of creating. If no one was to ever see my work I’d still paint.””
Thank You, Sponsors!
Jon Harman, Coldwell Banker Mason Morse, Lucky Supply Co., The Crow & Key
The Crow and Key is a small, specialized retail shop that offers a curated selection of unique products in downtown Carbondale, Colorado. Learn more at crowandkey.com.
Sarah Overbeck, Curator
Sarah’s artistic captivation began in the darkroom. Visual arts, storytelling, and preservation of time is what continues to fuel her passion for photography. A graduate from the Art Institute of Colorado in 2007, Sarah enjoyed several more years in the Mile High City.
A Carbondale native, Sarah returned home in 2017 to start a family with her husband, Jason. In 2020, she joined the formidable Carbondale Arts team as the Marketing & Communications Director, and never looked back!
“I got my first tattoo as a teenager in protest of high school prom. While living in Denver, and becoming somewhat of a tattoo connoisseur, I found tattooing not to be just a personal form of societal rebellion, but found a thriving, deep-rooted arts culture and industry.
I’ve had this wild idea for a gallery show for a while, but it wasn’t until I connected with Matt Hays that it became a reality. We quickly discovered we have a lot in common, including a shared appreciation for many of the same artists in this show.”
Matt Hays
Mammoth American + Glenwood Springs | *Co-curator
Matt started tattooing in 2006 after leaving a career in animation and video to pursue a life of art. Through his professional experience in animation and through the teachings of his mentor, Matt became very adept at being able to tattoo whatever style of tattoo walked through the door.
Through his pursuit of art and the craft of tattooing, he has created an illustrative style that is uniquely his own. Known for making solid tattoos that stand the test of time, Matt tattoos not for the acceptance of his peers, but for the the joy and satisfaction of his clients and for the love of tattooing.
Matt will be working on a custom design. No booking available.
Joey Armstrong
Thunderhand Tattoo + Seventh Son
My love for tattooing began in December of 1993 when I got my first tattoo from Eric Doyle at Perfection Tattoo in Austin, Texas. I continued to get work done by Chris Trevino and am grateful for the time I spent in his shop as a client. I would go home and spend hours drawing designs and realized I needed more information and instruction.
I moved to San Francisco in 1997, spending my time skateboarding, painting graffiti, and practicing Jiu Jitsu, where I met Luke Stewart. Later, he let me know about an apprenticeship at Goldfield’s Tattoo Studio, and I jumped at the opportunity. Working there was an honor. In 2007, Luke brought me on at Seventh Son Tattoo, which allowed me to work alongside some of the best tattooers in the world. I learned so much from them.
In March of 2016 I opened Thunderhand Tattoo in Washington State. However, and still go back to Seventh Son regularly. Thunderhand has been going strong for almost 10 years now. I’m very grateful for all my clientele, past and present.
Whenever I’m not tattooing, I’m always working on various types of artwork; both aerosol and enamel murals, painting with watercolor, acrylic, and oil, hand-painted signs, to name a few.
Kevin Bledsoe
Tribal Rites + Neon Falcon, CO
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Kevin will be working on a custom design. No booking available.
Curtis Burgess
Tribal Rites, Ft. Collins, CO
Born and raised in Fort Collins, Colorado, art has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I found tattooing in 1999 and have been dedicated to the craft ever since. You can find me at my shop, Tribal Rites in Fort Collins.
While I enjoy working in all styles, I’m most inspired by nature-based, organic, flowing designs that move naturally with the body.
Sandi Calistro
Tattoo Dumond, Denver, CO
Sandi has been a dedicated painter and tattoo artist based in Denver for more than two decades, where she owns Tattoo Dumond. Her journey into mural work began in 2010 when she was invited to paint the exterior wall of her favorite local restaurant—a pivotal opportunity that led to numerous mural commissions throughout Denver and surrounding communities.
Originally from New Britain, Connecticut, Sandi has been passionate about art for as long as she can remember. Encouraged by supportive parents who recognized and nurtured her creativity, she pursued her path as a self-taught artist. Over the years, her work has been featured in successful exhibitions across Denver and various cities throughout the United States.
George Campise
War Horse Tattoo, Berkley, CA
George Campise, owner of War Horse Tattoo in Berkeley CA, is a self- taught San Francisco Bay Area tattoo artist whose career has spanned 33 years. He began painting with acrylics in 2001 focusing primarily on images of Gods and Death inspired by his Roman ancestry and European travels. George’s influences include sci-fi and fantasy, mythology and pop culture.
“Tattooing is my first love but she’s a strict mistress. As a medium it’s quite unforgiving, its unique variables make it simultaneously the most permanent and temporary of art forms. Tattooing is extremely personal to each client, and a collaborative process.
By contrast painting is pure freedom. I’m free to enjoy the journey of a process that's allowed to evolve as I go. There’s the freedom to say whatever I want or nothing at all. I do it for the joy of creating. If no one was to ever see my work I’d still paint.”
George’s artwork has been featured in several books, magazines and private collections as well as galleries throughout the Bay Area and in London. He has created graphics for Creature Skateboards, House of Kasai, and tattoo skins for Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto.
Ben Cheese
War Horse Tattoo, Berkley, CA
Ben Cheese is a tattooist and painter inspired by American traditional tattooing and Japanese Edo period wood block prints. His work consists of pen and liquid acrylic on watercolor paper and is consistently presented in long scroll style.
Some of the more popular artistic influences to him include Japanese artists such as Kyosai Yoshitoshi. Hokusai and Kuniyoshi. This reflects in his painting subjects which consist mostly of birds, flowers, and women.
Over his career, Ben has been featured in many collaborative books of tattoos and paintings and travels around America and the globe to work and paint with his peers. He can be found working in Berkeley at War Horse Tattoo.
Brett Herman
Mammoth American, Denver, CO
Colorado-born artist Brett Herman forged his creative path through tattooing, painting, and an early love of heavy metal that took him from Denver to Los Angeles right after high school. After a traditional tattoo apprenticeship—with the joys of soldering flux and Alconox—he spent years developing his craft as both a tattoo artist and painter throughout Southern California before returning home to Colorado with his fiancée. Now based at Mammoth American, Brett frequently travels the West Coast for conventions and guest spots, reconnecting with the creative community he’s built over the years. Specializing in dark art, black-and-grey surrealism, illustrative color, and nature-inspired work, he blends bold contemporary themes with traditional tattoo elements.
He continues to exhibit his fine art in galleries around the world and has earned a New York Scholastic Art Award, multiple tattoo awards, curated numerous exhibitions, and published three collective art books. Brett remains dedicated to evolving as an artist and bringing positivity to the people he creates for.
Tattooing status
Chase Martines
As Above So Below, Denver, CO
Maecenas in mauris aliquet, eleifend nibh eu, rutrum metus. Proin luctus, nulla nec sodales lobortis, nibh risus maximus ante, quis eleifend eros leo ac nisl. Nulla bibendum mollis urna ac semper. Donec hendrerit ultrices leo eu aliquam. Praesent arcu elit, egestas sed orci sit amet, pulvinar lobortis tellus. Aliquam rhoncus porta enim dictum faucibus. Sed non ipsum tristique, imperdiet mauris id, porta est. Integer feugiat blandit urna a convallis. Integer elit arcu, ornare quis arcu non, euismod dignissim dui. Duis a sem felis. Cras luctus lacus at lorem dapibus, a condimentum ipsum cursus. Maecenas posuere nisl sit amet mauris lacinia condimentum. Suspendisse mattis lacus mi, a pharetra lacus dignissim vel. Quisque tempor consectetur orci. Integer enim orci, luctus nec tristique quis, auctor eu neque.
Ben Merrell
Wildland Tattoo, Ft. Collins, CO
Ben Merrell is a Colorado tattooer whose work is deeply shaped by his love for nature and the outdoors. The landscapes, seasons, and everyday moments around him fuel his ideas, influencing everything from his subject matter to the way he builds a design. Pieces are created using this inspiration alongside his appreciation of Japanese art and the graceful lines of Art Nouveau. He leans into organic shapes, natural textures, and fluid patterns, to create tattoos that incorporate his unique style with his clients’ vision.
For Ben, every tattoo is designed to fit each client both physically and conceptually - pieces that honor personal stories while harmonizing with the body’s unique form. With 22 years of tattooing experience, he continues to refine his craft at Wildland Tattoo Studio in Fort Collins, Colorado, where his connection to nature and dedication to intentional design remain at the heart of his work.
Justin Nordine
Alchemy Ink, Grand Junction, CO
Justin Nordine is a Colorado-based multidisciplinary artist working in tattoo, acrylic and mixed-media painting, and digital design. He is internationally recognized for his watercolor-inspired tattoo style, a technique he has named, Synth-Nouveau, which he has developed through nearly twenty years of professional practice, drawing clients from across the United States and around the world.
Nordine’s fine art practice expands the visual language he cultivates through tattooing. Translating themes of transformation, energy, and emotional resonance into layered acrylic works and digital compositions.
In addition, Nordine is the creator and host of the upcoming podcast Colorful Pricks, which examines creativity, consciousness, and contemporary artistic identity. He continues to operate his private tattoo studio, Alchemist Ink, while developing a multidisciplinary portfolio.
Nordine’s work has been commissioned by clients globally, showcased in professional tattoo conventions, and featured across multiple media platforms. His evolving practice reflects a commitment to bridging personal narrative, energetic awareness, and visual storytelling across mediums.
Mike Pinto
Thick As Thieves, Denver, CO
Mike Pinto, Denver-based tattoo artist with over thirty years experience—and twenty-four as local shop owner—heavily influenced by the custom car, and chopper scenes as well as sci-fi art of the 60’s-and 70’s. He delivers bright, bold, clean custom work rooted in American traditional and Japanese tattooing. He's circled the globe, snagging awards, even fixed disasters on TLC's America's Worst Tattoos.
Catch him now on East Colfax, Thick as Thieves Tattoo, where every custom piece goes to the city's coolest people.
Rodney Raines
Ace Custom Tattoo, Richmond, NC
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Matt Rousseau
Your Flesh Tattoo, Durango, CO
Born 1970. Tattooing since 1992. Opened world famous Your Flesh Tattoo in the fantastic four corners region of Durango, Colorado in 1996.
I’ve had the immense honor to have worked with a vast amount of incredible people (who just happen to be tattooers) in my 30+ year career and I am so very grateful and thankful for each and every one of them.
The clients however, are the real reason we’re here as tattooers. The clients are what matter most, and the relationships that we develop, grow and foster are the biggest privilege of being a tattooer for me.
Keep on trucking!
I love tattoo!
Samazon
Copperhead Tattoo Parlor, Denver, CO
Born and raised in Kansas, Samantha ‘Samazon’ Kuhn began tattooing in Colorado in 2010. Currently based out of Copperhead Tattoo Parlor in Denver, Sam enjoys making art and tattoos punctuated by life’s silliness.
Inspired by American Western art and science fiction, as well as the cartoons and comic books on which she was raised, Samazon specializes in the odd, hyper-specific, nostalgic, or ridiculous.
Jher Seno
Landmark Tattoo, Denver, CO
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Mike Strescino
Denver, CO
Everything Mike does as an artist traces back to drawing. Painting and tattooing evolve from his sketchbook doodles. As a painter Mike’s work focuses on many traditional subject matter such as landscapes and portraits configured into unusual compositions. Crashing seemingly mundane scenes and subjects together to create something broader and more interesting. Along with traditional painting techniques Mike combines illustrative elements in the composition style of field guides or tattoo flash sheets.
His tattoo work moves further in the direction of more refined, cleaner illustrative tattoos. Birds, bugs and flowers in cycles of life and decay. Mike captures motion and drama in his designs and focuses on making tattoos that flow with peoples bodies.
Currently Mike is Tattooing and painting in Denver, CO.
William Thidemann
Mammoth American Tattoo, Denver, CO
William Thidemann is a multidisciplinary artist and tattooer whose work bridges the traditions of fine art and the immediacy of tattoo culture. Based in Denver, Colorado, Thidemann studied Painting and Printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he began to develop the technical foundation and visual language that continue to guide his practice.
Beginning his tattoo career in 1993, he later founded Mammoth American Tattoo, a studio that reflects his belief in craftsmanship, collaboration, and meaningful storytelling through art. Thidemann’s approach merges a painter’s attention to texture, shading, and composition with the intimate and personal nature of tattooing. He creates drawings, paintings, and mixed-media pieces that often explore themes of memory, transformation, and the relationship between internal experience and external form. Whether working on skin or canvas, his goal is to create work that resonates and art that feels lived-in, layered, and emotionally honest.
Thidemann continues to expand his practice through exhibitions, commissions, and ongoing experimentation.
Olivia Britz-Wheat
Mortal Emblem, Portland, OR
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Praesent arcu elit, egestas sed orci sit amet, pulvinar lobortis tellus. Aliquam rhoncus porta enim dictum faucibus. Sed non ipsum tristique, imperdiet mauris id, porta est. Integer feugiat blandit urna a convallis. Integer elit arcu, ornare quis arcu non, euismod dignissim dui. Duis a sem felis. Cras luctus lacus at lorem dapibus, a condimentum ipsum cursus. Maecenas posuere nisl sit amet mauris lacinia condimentum.