Artwork for Skin, Canvas & Beyond
Every piece begins with an idea, not a template. Tattoos, paintings, sculptures and objects created as original works of art, shaped by movement, memory and the person or place they are made for.
Art Without a Single Medium
Derek Entenmann, known internationally as UberDerek, has spent nearly two decades creating original artwork across skin, canvas and physical objects — a practice that feels active rather than fixed, carrying traces of movement, history and reconstruction.
Two Decades, Two Mediums.
Since 2008, Derek has worked internationally as both a tattoo artist and visual artist, creating thousands of custom projects across Europe and the United States.
His career has included tattoo conventions, international guest work, years of travel, exhibitions, private commissions and a residency aboard Virgin Voyages with Squid Ink.
His tattoo work has received Best of Show at the DC Tattoo Expo, multiple Best of Day awards and First Place New School at the Stockholm Tattoo Festival, and is sponsored by World Famous Ink, Hustle Butter Deluxe and Cheyenne.
Today, his work moves between tattooing, painting, sculpture, print, apparel and public-facing art projects through Hive Tattoo Studio in Salzburg and Hive Art Gallery in Berchtesgaden.
Art That Refuses to Stand Still
"Empires wax and wane.
Time passes us by.
My work is what's left standing — broken, moving, still there."
I am drawn to things that carry evidence of time.
Old walls. Architectural fragments. Faded paint. Monuments, ruins and surfaces that have been built, damaged, repaired and changed again.
That same tension appears throughout my work. Precise structures meet loose drawing. Controlled areas give way to instinct. Images are layered, interrupted and rebuilt until the finished piece feels as though it has already lived a life.
A tattoo makes this idea physical. It moves with the body, changes with the person and records the passing of time. A painting or sculpture does something similar within a room: it gathers new meaning from the life that happens around it.
The work is not intended to feel frozen or mechanically perfect. It should feel alive, as if it is still becoming what it is.
I sometimes describe this visual language as destroyed geometry: structure broken open so that movement, imperfection and human energy can enter.
Original Artwork for the Body
A tattoo should work from across the room and reward attention up close.
Every project begins with a conversation about the person, the idea and the part of the body it will inhabit. The composition is then developed around movement, anatomy and the way the tattoo will age over time.
The goal is not to copy an image or reproduce a trend. It is to create a complete piece of artwork that belongs naturally to the person wearing it.
For large projects, the body is treated as a whole composition rather than a collection of disconnected images. Sleeves, back pieces and multi-session work are planned for flow, readability and long-term impact.
Selected Work
Work for Walls, Rooms and Collections
The paintings and sculptures extend the same visual language beyond the body.
Layers of drawing, paint, graphic structure and found visual references are built into surfaces that carry movement, tension and history. Some works are immediate and energetic. Others reveal themselves slowly through buried marks, interruptions and fragments.
Original works, limited editions, sculptural pieces and selected objects are available through UberDerek and Hive Art Gallery.
Salzburg. Berchtesgaden. New York. Washington D.C. Miami.
Based primarily at Hive Tattoo Studio in Salzburg, Austria, with regular sessions in Berchtesgaden, Germany, periodic guest appearances in New York and Washington D.C., and a quarterly guest residency in Miami, Florida.
The Work Begins Before the Surface
Every project begins by understanding what the work needs to become.
For a tattoo, that means considering the person, the body, the placement and the life the artwork will enter.
For a painting, sculpture or commission, it means understanding the space, scale, atmosphere and relationship the work will have with its surroundings.
The initial idea is developed through drawing, research, collage, composition and experimentation. Structure is built, interrupted and refined until the piece develops its own internal rhythm.
The result should feel intentional without feeling overcontrolled.
Conversation
Research
Composition
Construction
Refinement
Final Work
Commissions and Collaborations
Selected commissions are available for private collectors, businesses, hospitality spaces, interior projects and creative collaborations.
These may include original paintings, sculptural works, customized objects, murals, installations, limited editions or artwork developed for a particular space.
Each commission begins with a discussion of scale, setting, budget and intent.
What Should Exist That Doesn't Yet?
A tattoo. A painting. A sculpture. An object for a room, a collection or a life.
The medium can change. The starting point remains the same: make something original, specific and worth keeping.
Fine art gallery: @hivegallery.art