Yoon Ziho, better known as Yoonneedle, is a tattoo artist from Seoul whose name has firmly established itself in the international tattoo scene over the past few years. His path doesn’t look polished or academic – quite the opposite. Yoon’s story is about sincere creativity that resonates with people and turns its creator into a true star. It’s a path full of intuition, doubt, coincidence, and one very strange yellow-eyed Cat.
Yoon was born and raised in Seoul and has been drawing since his teenage years – for more than twelve years now. He came to tattooing later, in 2019, and in the most informal way possible: at a friend’s house, with a single needle and some ink.
“Looking back, it was a pretty reckless beginning – basically a classic hand-poke.”
For a long time, he struggled to find his own direction. There were endless questions, doubts, and internal noise. Everything changed in 2022, when one of his illustrations – a strange, slightly unsettling black cat – suddenly went viral. Along with a short video, the piece spread rapidly online, and in that moment Yoon realized he had finally found what he’d been searching for – his own “weird and bizarre cat.”
That’s how Trippy Cat was born – a character that gradually became more than just an image, evolving into a complete visual language. Over four years, this cat has multiplied into several hundred variations: placed in comical, absurd, and sometimes dark situations, each with its own mood and personality. Today, nearly 209,000 people follow yoonneedle’s portfolio on Instagram, and many come to him specifically to see – or take home – their own cat in his interpretation.
“Trippy Cat is, essentially, a strong reflection of myself.”
Through these characters, Yoon translates emotions, states, and observations from everyday life. That may be why the cats feel so alive, despite their deliberate strangeness. Psychedelic motifs hold a special place in his work – according to Yoon, they align most closely with his inner philosophy and stay with him the longest.
"I document all my work to remember every moment, and I try to give my best every single time.”
Yoon’s working process is fairly flexible: some clients receive a custom design on the same day, while others choose from pre-prepared projects. Often, people ask him to reinterpret their own cats in the yoonneedle style – something he’s more than happy to do. While sketching, Yoon listens to hard EDM or techno, and names music and a near-meditative state as his main sources of inspiration.
Interestingly, before Trippy Cat, dragons were the main motif in his tattoo work. He takes on fewer dragon projects now – most of the attention is focused on the cats – but he hasn’t abandoned the idea and plans to develop a dedicated dragon series in the future.
Today, Yoon co-runs LOYO Studio in Seoul, where he works as a resident artist. He hasn’t participated in tattoo conventions yet, but plans to actively enter the international scene starting in 2026.
“I’m planning to prepare larger-scale pieces for future conventions.”
His plans include attending the Milan convention 2026, expanding his body of work, and developing his own design brand. He jokes that sometimes he wishes he had two bodies, just to manage everything he wants to do.
Yoonneedle’s story shows how doubt, chaos, and one strange illustration can grow into a recognizable world people want to return to. And judging by the number of those yellow-eyed cats, that world is only just beginning to expand.
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