As a very creative youth interested in art, tattoo artist Jun Cha realized his true craft at 16. Growing up in Santa Monica and West L.A., Cha gravitated toward the streets, which eventually led him to Eastlake Juvenile Hall where tattooing came to light after constantly being exposed to it. “I saw opportunity,” the 20-year-old artist says. “Opportunity tuned into potential, which turned into inspiration then evolved into discipline and focus—something I never had when I was younger.” Turning a bad situation into a life-long career, Cha is an up-and-coming tattoo artist ready to make a name for himself and his art, having worked under other greats such as Mr. Cartoon and Jose Lopez of Low Rider Tattoo Studios. He’s already tattooed the likes of Jermaine Dupri, Drama from MTV’s “Fantasy Factory,” and Queen’s of the Stone Age’s Joes Castillo. But skin art isn’t his only forte; the Pasadena Art Center student also likes to express his creativity on canvas, which provides an entirely different satisfaction from tattooing.
