Art is not limited to canvas

“Art is what you can get away with,” said pop art creator Andy Warhol, and tattoo enthusiasts would agree. Allowing others to turn their bodies into works of art, more than 40,000 tattooed individuals flocked to Nassau Coliseum last weekend to view the more than 400 internationally known artists at the first annual United Ink Tattoo Convention.

House of Addixion Tattoo Company, a shop on Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow, was among the many businesses at the event. Owner Tom Giglio put his blood, sweat and tears into the shop that opened this year, but his vision was in the works for years.

The Franklin Square native left New York at 23 and headed to Los Vegas and later, Miami where he spent hours at Ink Daddy’s — a tattoo shop run by childhood friend Benjamin Garcia. Still finding his way in life, Giglio’s mother, Barbara, always encouraged him to find something he loved. “She always wanted me to open my own business,” he said. “It was something that was calling my name for a reason.” So, after her unexpected death at 56 years old, he did just that.

After dabbling in mortgage sales for 10 years, Giglio returned to New York — this time to Bayside, Queens — and on Feb. 16, his vision for House of Addixion came to fruition.

Giglio said his passion for tattoos began gradually, first getting a Chinese symbol for good friend and good fortune. He later added a friend’s initials after his unexpected death, and now features ink on his leg, left arm and back, which he added after his mother’s death. The physical pain helped him deal with the emotional pain, he said.

House of Addixion hosts four full-time artists, including Matt Murphy, who was at the convention. Hailing from Bohemia, N.Y., Murphy dropped out of Catherine Gibbs School, where he majored in art, to pursue tattooing. He has been at the craft for eight years and is known for color-saturated pieces.

Murphy likens tattooing to being in a secret society. “Once you’re in it, it’s almost like a big family,” he said. “It’s a lifelong thing. If you’re going to do it, do it ‘til you die.”

Murphy joined the shop three months ago after meeting Giglio through his fiancé Desiree Schirmer, who also works at the location as a body piercer.

When asked which tattoo was the most memorable to create, Murphy simply said he is inspired by all clients and deeply invested by the story each one conveys. “This is the biggest gratification, to have your art on someone,” he added. “It’s priceless.”

Also highlighting a visitor, Vanne Ateca, a famous abstract artist from Ibiza, Spain, was at the convention at Giglio’s request.

Speaking in broken English with assistance from a translator, Ateca, who natively speaks Spanish, said she most enjoys free-handing portrait tattoos, and according to 38-year-old Jerry Lowe, of Roosevelt, her talent is “above and beyond.”

Lowe is covered in more than 170 hours worth of tattooing, but said, “I need to be inspired to want to get something.” His most recent tattoo is the Statue of Liberty praying, which was added by Ateca two weeks ago. The tattoo is symbolic, Lowe said. “America is going down [an economic hole]. Even the Statue of Liberty is asking for help.”

The tattoo convention was mostly an ink-covered crowd, but Murphy said he has tattooed people of every age and race. “Tattooing is not limited to that group of people on the other side of the tracks,” he said. “I’ve tattooed somebody from every walk of life, from not so good people to devout Christians.”

Giglio said that many who walk into House of Addixion come in for their first tattoos — one customer will be an 18-year-old college student and the next will be an 80-year-old woman wanting a tribute for her late husband.

“Tattooing is about expressing yourself, your art, who you are,” Giglio added.