About

Artist's Statement:

"I take a holistic approach to the arts. Never satisfied to settle into a style, niche or particular medium, all of the my life experiences, influences and visionary explorations weave their way through my entire catalog - from my vocation as an award winning Tattoo artist to my illustration and design work for a broad clientele of rock bands, clothing companies and assorted other projects to my own musical work and as a writer for other musical acts - I look to inject the energy and urgency of my youth spent in the punk and underground metal scene and my Surrealistic, Shamanic and Psychedelic point of view into everything I touch. Whether pencil, pen and ink, acrylics, photography, digital art or manipulations of sound - I am interested in accessing multiple layers of reality and non-reality. I want the first experience someone has with my work to strike them in an emotional way and for the viewer to be able to journey into deeper symbols, archetypes and conceptualizations as they spend more time with the work."

-Rev. Chad Wells
September, 2012


Accolades:

Praise for "Stream of Consciousness Tattooing" Book/DVD:

"Pushing tattooing to it purest most primal form, this just may be as real as it gets."
Joshua Carlton
Great American Tattoo Company, Alla Prima Ink
www.joshuacarlton.com
www.allaprimaink.com

"Following the tattoo where it wants to take you is truly a new direction in modern tattooing! The freedom this type of tattooing represents is a key to allowing the artist’s mind to grow exponentially. This is any tattoo artist’s dream!”
Durb Morrison
Hell City Tattoo Festival
www.durbster.com
www.hellcity.com

"One of the most unique and innovative approaches to freehand tattooing I've ever seen!"
Tony Terrell
(Former) GM Hell City Tattoo Fest
www.hellcity.com

"To me it seems to be a different approach in the mind of an artist, which could potentially create a product that would be radically different than anything anyone expected or has created before."
Sean Herman
www.seanherman.com

"A totally bold move that can only be done well when one is a true artist that can stay focused and, thanks to many hours of experience and high skills development, can expertly express his imagination and turn these thoughts into permanent pictures no matter what the canvas is, skin or paper. Since there is no going back, once a line is made order is created out of chaos. Much like Zen Archery, the arrow lands where the mind is focused, like Electric Frankenstein sings "The Time is Now!", the tattoo world version of tightrope walking above Niagara Falls!"
Sal Canzonieri
Electric Frankenstein
www.electricfrankenstein.com

"We are witnessing a time when tattoo is finally being recognized as art, not merely decoration or novelty. Stream of consciousness expression is the purest in any art form and is deservedly being applied to tattoo in this bold and creative venture. In an industry where 'to copy' is standard, it is a pleasure to see such originality in thought and expression."
Carter Moore
immortalcanvas.com

"This is definitely the next step into the future of tattooing. This will take some guts and amazing talent and Chad has both."
Mike Guidone
Monkey Bones Tattoo
www.monkeybonestattoo.com

"It's always cool to see someone breaking new ground in an industry as old and steeped in tradition as ours. That's an extremely cool concept, to let the area/body part dictate the way the final piece comes together, I look forward to seeing what you (and others) do in the future with this technique."
James Rowe
Rabid Badger Studios, Budo Tattoo
www.rabidbadgerstudios.com
www.budotattoo.com

"This is a very experimental and bizzarre project. It's very interesting to watch and probably even a more insane experience to receive a tattoo in this fashion. I personally would not tattoo my clients in this fashion but Chad seems to be extremely comfortable with the process."
Brandon Bond
All Or Nothing Tattoo, Anti Art Elite
www. allornothingtattoo. com

"In my eyes, the improvisational tattoos like these are the best way to truly utilize the artist's pure style and ability to create tattoos that appear they were there at birth due to the option of working the tones over muscle tones, scars, birthmarks, skin texture, etc. I have been using techniques similar to this and find it much more satisfying."
Brian Murphy
www.myspace.com/brianmurphytattoo

Praise from Rock Bands/Musicians:

"The Rev does such a ghoulish job of imagining our music and attitude onto his morbid canvas, truly a ghastly contender"-
-Lucifer Fulci
Penis Flytrap

"Just got a couple MURDER JUNKIES posters from Rev. Chad and they ROCKED
MY FUCKIN WORLD. These are some of the best concert posters I've seen
of the band. Kick ass shit for sure. Can't wait to see more."
-Merle Allin
The Murder Junkies