Please join us in welcoming Eric Schandelmeier (@thirdeyeeric) to H.E.X. Collective.
It feels especially right to welcome Midwest-born artist Eric Schandelmeier into the H.E.X. fold. We’ve been family a long time.
Emerald and I’ve known Eric since the early 2000s, when he was a tall, skinny, young punk still drawing mostly biomech and vaginas and biomechanics vaginas. This was while he was tattooing as an apprentice under Chad Gregorson—an old-school biker with alleged ties to The Outlaws, who saw Eric’s potential maybe even before Eric himself did.
I hadn’t been an honorary member of the tattoo family at Third Eye Tattoo for more than two weeks before Chad passed away. A tragic motorcycle crash—an evening like any other—and suddenly a friend, a mentor, and a brother was gone.
It was then that Eric and I bonded as friends. Grief connected us, but we also inspired creativity in one another—sharing an affinity for the irreverent, subversive, horror, and post-punk music.
It feels like a lifetime ago that we were drinking stouts, watching Pink Flamingos, and sharing ideas.
At 29, I was a drunk first and a writer second. I hadn’t yet found my niche as a graphic designer or visual artist—I was still fumbling toward where I might fit into the world. But even then, as young as he was, Eric knew exactly where belonged— and so did everyone else.
Now based long-distance in Phoenix, AZ, Eric is a visual and tattoo artist working in dark surreal and psychedelic visual language.
With nearly 20 years of professional tattooing and a lifelong fine-art practice, his work spans painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and skin. His interests include oddities, of which he has an extensive collection, almost as prolific as his unfortunate dad-jokes.
Much has changed since we first crossed paths. And many miles have gathered between us. Big changes. Small changes. I quit drinking. Eric got married. We both came out as queer.
We make a point of seeing each other every couple of years for an all-day tattoo session that he sadistically enjoys more than I do. I followed him first to Seattle, then to Phoenix. Sometimes he drops into Minneapolis for an hour sunbath sesh at Weber Natural Pools in North Minneapolis —wearing our skimpiest suits for a laugh—before he heads off to make the rounds, visiting other friends and relatives.
Regardless of the time between, it's like picking up where we last left off. Maybe a few pounds extra and a couple more wrinkles to mark the time.
It's these kinds of roots that run the deepest though. The chosen family kind. The kind of connections that transcend space and time.
I am so very glad to welcome you to your coven away from home, my friend. A piece of me feels it was a long time coming.
That’s what she said. 🖤
