Daniel’s art feels like a quiet rebellion—etched in ink, shaped by ritual, and born from the ruins of belief. A UW senior and the artist behind @aphextw.ink runs his studio from a tattoo bed in the corner of his bedroom. 

The underground tattoo scene is vibrant in the U-district. Daniel’s unique approach captures the evolving culture of tattooing, where private studios and personal connections are becoming the norm for individuals seeking something more intimate and less clinical than traditional tattoo parlors. “It is intimate, getting a tattoo shouldn’t feel so sterile,” he remarks. In a world where tattooing has become more accessible and individualistic, Daniel embraces this shift, appreciating the opportunity it gives both artists and clients to express themselves in ways that break free from tradition.

Scrolling through Daniel’s Instagram, you’ll find a collection of eerie sigils, clean architectural lines, and scribbled abstract that feels sacred, holy, and deeply cohesive. His style nods to fine line cyber sigil—a genre that blends the digital and mystical—but Daniel insists he’s not married to any one aesthetic. “I hate it when people call my stuff cyber-sigilism.” He’s heavily inspired by deconstruction. “I grew up in a super Christian, Mormon household,” he tells me. “This type of style in its own way is kind of like a fuck you to how the church raised me” his rigid past fuels his reimagined current “I can co-op the imagery in an empowering way instead of a big looming thing in my life, I feel like that’s my main medium, my inspiration” 

For Daniel, the art is more than an homage—it’s a subversion of his hyper-religious upbringing. 

Sometimes inspiration strikes from deep meaning; other times it’s just about the act of scribbling until an idea blooms. “At times I’m just like scribbling and then my head will slip somewhere that turns into something bigger” he says. 

Daniel concludes with remarks on the permanency of the body and the art it carries “you’re gonna get old and wrinkly anyways, might as well fuck it up when you’re young and hot” he says “everyones gonna look terrible when they’re older, you look the best now, might as well have fun with that”

His diverse art—and the ink that carries it—has left its mark across the U-District, quietly reshaping the tattoo scene.

Reach column writer Zain Al Neema at musemediauw@gmail.com

Instagram @zainneema