A pair of eyes tattooed to the back of a bald head is not the usual image people connect to fine art, but Robert Parr will try to change that in a lecture titled “Body Canvas: Tattoo Art and Body Modification” at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Brunnier Art Museum.

“I’d like to argue that we’re not just a bunch of hoodlum bikers desecrating ourselves. We are artists,” said Parr, a tattoo artist at Lasting Impressions Tattoo Studio, 114 Welch Ave.

The lecture will give some history into the art of tattooing, advice to people considering getting a tattoo and an opportunity for the tattooed to show off their body art.

Parr said people often get tattoos to remember people or times in their lives. However, he said, indigenous people throughout history have used tattoos for ritual purposes.

“Every culture has had tattooing in it,” Parr said. “American tattooing is a culmination of all other kinds.”

Parr said he has been painting for 15 years and drawing as long as he could remember. He often custom-designs his clients’ tattoos and then draws the image freehand on the skin before using the tattoo machine. Parr is an ISU graduate with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts.

Eyes on the back of a head is one of the strangest images Parr said he can remember tattooing, but he said he’s become used to bizarre suggestions.

“What surprises a lot of people doesn’t surprise me anymore,” he said.

Parr will show slides of some of the more detailed tattoos he has designed.

The idea for the lecture came from Allison Sheridan, education assistant and security officer at the Brunnier Museum.

She has a tattoo, and when she saw a tattoo on the sculpture of a biker woman, which is currently part of Marc Sijan’s ultra-realistic sculpture exhibit at Brunnier, she was inspired to share information about the art form.

“The body can become a type of canvas for people,” said Rachel Hampton, communications specialist for University Museums.

There is no cost for this event and it is open to the public.