Stained legacy – how top Hong Kong tattoo artist Joey Pang vanished

Joey Pang had it all – a reputation as one of Asia’s most respected tattoo artists, a waiting list said to span years, and a studio in Central, where fans from around the world would get inked for HK$3,500 (US$450) an hour.

Pang had pioneered a brush-stroke style influenced by Chinese ink painting that elevated her status among female Asian artists in a region where body modification is often considered taboo.

She was living the dream. Or, at least, that’s how it seemed – until she disappeared, leaving clients with unfinished ink and tens of thousands of dollars in lost deposits.

In early 2017 calls and emails to Tattoo Temple, the studio in Lan Kwai Fong founded by Pang in 2006, started going unanswered. Pang and Chris Anderson, her husband, business partner and father of her two sons, had parted ways.

Anderson, who handled the studio’s bookings, initially told clients he had ended his relationship with the studio, and that Pang would arrange appointments. However, phones were soon disconnected, email accounts deactivated, and the shop closed. Former Tattoo Temple artists sought work elsewhere and tried to distance themselves from the unfolding drama.