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“I have definitely experienced racism within tattooing”

Earlier this year, tattoo artist Rizza Boo set up Shades Tattoo Initiative – a safe space to build community, educate artists, help build skills and showcase the work of Black and POC tattoo artists working in U.K. We chatted to her to find out more.

Rizza Boo, photograph by Benedict Cross

Tell us about your own experiences of racism in the tattoo world…Why did you set up Shades?

I formed Shades Tattoo Initiative in response to the pain and disconnectedness I was feeling directly after the murder of George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

As we were witnessing the widespread distress of so many black people, I looked around myself and felt the need to try to make some sort of small impact where I could. In that moment, I wanted to reach out to offer support and feel supported, I suppose. In a larger sense, overall I see a need to empower black and POC folks and improve their treatment within the tattoo industry. 

While we were watching the news unfold and were having to see more cases of extreme racism, police brutality and murder of black people across the pond, we also had to turn our gaze to the prejudice and institutionalised racism that we face here in the UK. I was struck by the fact that so many people, even those I am close to, white friends, didn’t realise how much racism we encounter as black or brown people on a daily basis, and they certainly did not acknowledge it in our industry, or not to the degree which it is apparent.

I was struck by the fact that so many people, even those I am close to, white friends, didn’t realise how much racism we encounter as black or brown people on a daily basis, and they certainly did not acknowledge it in our industry, or not to the degree which it is apparent.

I’ve been a tattooer for around 15 years and have been in the industry longer than that. In that time, I have worked at a number of studios, as a resident tattooer and as a guest artist. I have also worked many tattoo conventions in the UK and further afield. Yes, I have definitely experienced racism within tattooing! Although I will say, that a lot of the micro aggressions that some folks have had to tolerate being in tattoo studios, I have myself, been presented with, but obviously I have the knowledge to kind of block certain misinformation.

For example, there’s been multiple times where I go to get tattooed and the tattooer is telling me something won’t work on my skin, then I have to educate them on this, sometimes only being believed once I then show healed work of the colour. This is me arguing my case as a tattooist. But you know, those instances are fine, it’s a learning curve and those artists learnt more about how to tattoo dark skin tones on that day. There’s a way of having those interactions without making the POC feel like their skin is an issue –and that’s what a lot of those micro aggressions come down to. Ignorance, lack of education and then lack of knowing how to put your ego aside a little and communicate properly with the other individual.

I have numerous customers being turned away because they are told that an artist can’t tattoo black skin, why has this been allowed to happen for so long?

So, over recent weeks, I think it has now become very obvious for most tattooers, that whether they like it or not, black and POC folks have been having some difficult interactions in tattoo studios that have been far from ok, ranging from subtle micro-aggressions to outright racism and prejudice.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA-HgmZnNfH/

Why has this gone on so long?

It’s difficult for tattooers to talk about not being able to tattoo black folks because it means holding your hands up and saying you don’t know how to do something. The goal of a tattooer when they do any piece should be the closest execution of the best tattoo they can make, right? Based on their skill level, their knowledge, the practice drawing, who they tailor designs to are all factors…if you cannot provide a service properly to a large quantity of people, then it’s showing a lack of skill in your job – and no one wants to admit that.

Even though, we all know that as with any skilled profession, we must  continue to challenge our knowledge and technical ability for this craft to grow. I think there is an awkwardness around discussing race and an unwillingness in the moment to admit one’s shortcomings. And so the black or IPOC is turned away, with yet another negative experience in a tattoo studio.  

Also acknowledging now, that you realise you have been doing a disservice, means admitting that for a long time you didn’t care to learn about how to look after ALL of your clients, which makes people feel bad. There’s also a layer to this which is, perhaps, they didn’t see these brown people as the target audience for their style of work, therefore, they were dismissed…This is echoed when you see the whitewashing of black and POC skin in photos of tattoos displayed by tattooers on Instagram. This reinforces the idea that their skin was not the desired complexion for your art to grace its surface.

This is echoed when you see the whitewashing of black and POC skin in photos of tattoos displayed by tattooers on Instagram. This reinforces the idea that their skin was not the desired complexion for your art to grace its surface.

This has continued for so long because tattooing is a trade that’s passed down. If one tattooer takes on an apprentice and then doesn’t have the skills to pass down, then that’s a large part of the problem. I started out tattooing in London, so just because of where I was I tattooed a large quantity of all skin tones, I also tattooed the fuck out of my own legs! 

If in your apprenticeship, or the way you came into tattooing, you weren’t exposed to tattooing a lot of different skin types, then it is your responsibility to seek out this knowledge. No one expects you to just magically know, but it’s not expecting too much for you to invest time and energy learning.

Do you think some kind of board could help?

I think one of the main issues, when we think about regulations and boards etc is , who exactly would be making up these regulations? We see first hand how, with regards to things like health and safety and licensing, that the people setting the rules often have little to no knowledge of how we actually work and what goes on in tattoo studios. You can see that with how the re-opening of tattooing establishments has been handled during this whole pandemic situation – how dare they take money from tattoo businesses for “special treatments” and then allow folks with zero training in cross-contamination or even apparently the knowledge of how to wear a mask or gloves properly go back to work? You could say I find this frustrating. I understand that we work close-up, but the pubs being opened before us was a farce.

I would also be concerned that it is not only the same people who have been setting the tone for how the industry is shaped right now that set the new guidelines, if there were any put in place. 

I know a lot of us enjoy the freedom of working within tattooing and it’s kind of relaxed attitude, but that environment has not been safe for everyone and that’s a problem.

That said, I am for protecting our clients and those who are more vulnerable working in our industry, so if we could put something in place which protected people then it may have to be considered. I know a lot of us enjoy the freedom of working within tattooing and it’s kind of relaxed attitude, but that environment has not been safe for everyone and that’s a problem. That said, obviously it is tattooers ourselves and the behaviour in tattoo studios which we have direct control over, so even if there were a board, self regulation within studios is crucial as it always has been.

Can you tell me about colour tests, do you offer them?

I can understand the want for some dark skin folks to request a colour test and I would happily provide this. However, I don’t think it is necessarily a good thing for black people to get this done and then think they know exactly how a colour tattoo will work for them. What I mean is, there is a large difference between a dot or a line of a colour and a large area of the same colour tattooed or colours blended together etc.

When I speak with dark skinned clients, whether we are speaking about colour tattoos or black and grey, my emphasis is always on contrast, creating enough contrast in a piece so that we can get a tattoo that will stand the test of time. Of course, we also discuss which colours will be most complementary to their skin tone and what will achieve the best results (this works as an example of how to have a positive tone when speaking about skin!).

How do you want Shades to grow?

I want Shade to offer support to black and POC folks in the tattoo community. I think that is significant, I’d like it to feel like more of a community and less of an industry. For those that feel like it already is…it’s a community when everyone feels welcome and invited.

I want Shades to help bridge this gap in knowledge and help educate tattooers. I want it to offer networking opportunities for the artists and offer information for clients on how to get the best tattoo possible. 

I want Shades to be able to raise general awareness about racism and offer ways to promote, inclusivity within tattooing. Shades is for the empowerment of black and brown people, to help with  education and hopefully to help us all in gaining more understanding by addressing these challenging issues and opening conversation about them.

Shades is for the empowerment of black and brown people, to help with  education and hopefully to help us all in gaining more understanding by addressing these challenging issues and opening conversation about them.

 Do you think we can make change?

I do think we can make change. I think it is inevitable at this point. People get to choose what their involvement looks like though. I don’t intend to stop talking about these issues any time soon. I hope more people also speak up, but more than that, adapt their behaviour, have the conversations, make changes in their work environments. I hope people stop spending their money with and supporting businesses who do not adapt their behaviour, harbouring abusive tattooers that hurt the rest of us. There are a lot of good tattooers out there who care deeply about their clients and the folks working for them, let’s uplift those businesses.

I think there is such a large push all around. So outside of tattooing and in everyday life, in every industry, every workplace, household, is in some way having to deal with this. I think we have already seen how much people have accomplished in a small space of time, with regard to reform and changes, over in the US  and what people are trying to achieve over here. If it was just tattooing then maybe it would just settle again but it’s much bigger than that. But no, we want more, for the younger generations. This is about them, their lives, their education, their history and their quality of life, so yes, we can and we will make a change.

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Have conventions and media been part of the problem? 

I think conventions and media can be part of the solution! There is definitely a problem with people simply not seeing enough tattoos on dark skin. This is not limited to tattooing. Across the beauty industry, we see the same with their magazines and models. So yes, they do play a part and I would hope that they aim to make sure they are showing a diverse range of skin tones in their pages. This is a lot to do with tattooers not showing photos of tattoos on dark skin. It is sometimes challenging to get good photographs of any freshly done tattoo, but to simply exclude any images of POC or to whitewash the ones you do show is unacceptable. It sends a clear message of being unwanted no matter your intention.

It’s kind of a chain really, studios, media, conventions. I have had good support from some conventions over the years, frequenting them regularly, the lack of black and brown faces has always been noticed. I have to believe that at a certain point they simply aren’t getting the opportunity to take part. I don’t think my experience is necessarily the norm. Let’s be really real…there’s a lot of varying quality of work at certain shows. I now know.  A lot of very good black tattooers who have not had much opportunity with conventions. So I feel like shows have the option to make sure they are also being inclusive. It makes sense though, if studios which are the first point of contact are not inviting, then obviously that affects who ends up working in these shops and so on.

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The artists group within Shades is for black and IPOC tattooists working within the UK. You do not have to be POC to collaborate with us though, we welcome conversation and work on projects , please reach out to us. 

For anyone wishing to collaborate with Shades or if you wish to offer your skills, please email us and tell us a bit about yourself.

shadestattooinitiative@gmail.com

@shades_tattoo_initiative

@rizza_boo

Rizza has set up a gofundme for Shades, there is an urgent need to get the website up and running, so Rizza needs support.  

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“What’s fir ye will no go by ye”: Hannah Danana

Hannah Danana is a tattoo apprentice at Liquorice Tattoo in Kirriemuir, Scotland, who just so happens to be transgender with an active GoFundMe campaign. Here Hannah shares her story about what’s meant to happen for you will happen (the meaning of the quote above lovingly taken from her granny)…

I have had an infinity towards tattooing since, at least, my early teens, having always been intrigued by the culture and history surrounding it. I never necessarily saw myself becoming a tattoo artist, despite studying art, but it’s something I’ve been around for most of my adult life and just seemed like a natural fit. I’ve been apprenticing for two years now, going into my third.

I had always known in subtle ways that my body didn’t line up with my gender and that I was “different” but after years of depression and battling with (what I didn’t know at the time was) dysphoria I realised that I was in fact trans. And so for the sake of my wellbeing and mental health and with love and support from my amazing wife,  I transitioned. I started in my mid 20s (I’m now 30) before I had begun my apprenticeship. So coming into, what was and still can be predominately a boy’s club, as a transwoman was fairly intimidating. 

After a couple of false starts in other studios I found my home at Liquorice Tattoo. Which is an inclusive all female studio. They were massively accepting of me and my journey and gave me a safe space to learn and hone the craft. 

Since I started working and learning at Liquorice Tattoo early in my transition I have still been continuing my journey “on the job” as it were, through the NHS. Now, the NHS is and can be, wonderful. But it’s not without its troubles and lengthy waiting lists. Currently the NHS gender clinics in the UK are experiencing massive amounts of patient intakes and because of such, are experiencing unprecedented waiting lists. Which unfortunately means that trans, non-binary and other gender nonconforming people like myself are waiting months, if not years, for their initial appointments never mind starting actual treatment.

Thankfully aside from my lengthy waits with the NHS they have been really good in dealing with me and my transition. But like I said, the NHS is not without its pitfalls and funding being a large issue means that not all treatments available to trans people are deemed “essential”. In my case that was breast augmentation and facial feminisation surgery. 

Now, gender dysphoria can be a fickle beast and usually when you tackle one area of distress, another that was lurking in the background becomes far more prominent. The most important part of my transition at first for me was gender confirmation surgery (for anyone unaware of what that is or may entail, I’ll leave it up to them to Google and research.)

After having that surgery (which I am forever grateful to the NHS and the wonderful team at Nuffield Brighton) and eliminating the largest source of gender dysphoria for me, other areas of my dysphoria started to rear their ugly head. And no matter how you try to think your way around it, these features that may or may not be noticeable to others, become all encompassing parts of your body image.

No matter how many times someone comforts you that nobody sees what you see, you’ll never truly be comfortable in your skin until it’s dealt with. 

That’s why I started my gofundme campaign. So I could afford the surgeries that the NHS could not offer me and finally feel truly comfortable in myself which I believe everyone has a right to! While the total cost of these surgeries is around the £18,000 mark, I am not trying to raise the full amount (which would be nice). But mostly to soften the blow for any kind of loan that I will likely need to take out to cover them. Without the gofundme campaign it would be years before I could afford them and those who suffer from severe depression know that years are not necessarily guaranteed. One particularly dark period could be the one. But that’s another conversation in and of itself. 

Thank you so much to anyone that has shared or donated to the campaign. I am endlessly grateful to all of you. 

And to anyone within the LGBT community that aspires to work in the tattoo industry but is too intimidated or scared by its reputation of being un-inclusive or a “boy’s club”. Go for it! Just go ahead and take the plunge. Because for every studio that might turn you away for being an LGBT apprentice there is another, safe, accepting studio waiting with open arms. 

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Interview with YouTuber Lauren Petrie

30-year-old Lauren Petrie (also known as ‘Treacle Tatts’) is a popular YouTuber and social media personality who started her YouTube career in 2014 and has since amassed an 100k following. Her videos almost completely revolve around tattoos and she frequently addresses injustice in the tattoo community to raise awareness and help educate her viewers. I had a chance to speak with Lauren recently about her YouTube career, her tattoo collection and how she has been handling the covid-19 lockdown…

Tell us a bit about why you started your YouTube channel. There’s a few reasons why I started my channel! One is I studied media in college, and I loved video editing and I wanted to get back into video editing again. I thought making Youtube videos would be a great way to do that but had no idea what kind of videos to make. I definitely don’t have the best makeup, gaming or cooking skills so all of those were out of the question when it came to making content so I thought I’d make videos on tattoos.

To start off with it was more so to see if people related to stuff I had gone through as a tattooed person as at the time there was no tattooed people in my life. I then thought “hey use your experiences to help people when it comes to tattoos” as I didn’t start off getting the best tattoos and slowly learned how amazing and artistic tattoos could be! I then continued making videos on my experiences and giving advice on how to get good tattoos!

How has YouTube affected your life? It’s given me the freedom to be my own boss and work when I want and talk about stuff, I’m super passionate about! I managed to turn my hobby into my job and I got to quit my retail job to do it full time! It’s an absolute pleasure to do and will be forever thankful that I get to do it!

What do you enjoy the most about being a YouTuber? Being able to connect with people who have the same interests as me! Talking to fellow people who get super excited about an upcoming tattoo appointment and the such! Its also learning about other people’s experiences when it comes to getting tattooed and who they are as people! I just find other tattooed people fascinating! I make some videos that involve my subscribers and they are from all walks of life from lawyers, to grandparents, to chefs, to students, retail workers I mean the list can go on!

I love to share people’s backgrounds to prove that tattoos aren’t just for celebrities or criminals like some people like to think!

What first attracted you to the world of tattoos? I can’t pinpoint an exact moment because even as a child I loved them! I’d always cover myself in temporary tattoos! I’d be that weird kid that stared at tattooed people in a store and not because I thought they were weird but because I thought they were the coolest person on the planet! None of my family have tattoos so I never grew up around them so maybe that peaked my interest even more! 

Can you tell us about your tattoo collection? Do you have a favourite tattoo? My tattoo collection is a huge mish mash of styles and colours. Some are personal or custom drawn and some are just flash drawn pieces from some of my favourite artists! I like symmetry and organising by colour. So my left arm is colour traditional and then my right arm is a black work blast over (still in progress) then my left leg is black work and my right leg is colour. I just thought it would be a fun way to style my tattoos. 

It’s so hard to pick a favourite tattoo but at the moment I’d have to say it’s my black work peony neck tattoo by Heidi Furey! I spent a couple of years really deciding if I wanted to be very visibly tattooed and I finally went for it and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made! 

We love your outfit posts on Instagram! How would you describe your style? Ow thank you!! My fashion is all over the place to be honest one day I’ll be wearing loud plaid trousers and the next I’ll be wearing all black and studded stuff but one thing I continuously wear I guess is oversized printed tees! I can’t get enough of them! Most of them are tattoo art inspired because why stop at getting just tattoos when you can have the art style on a t-shirt!

How have you been coping with the covid-19 lockdown? I’m very much an introvert so staying in didn’t really affect me much at first. I did start to get restless here and there as time went on! I really missed my best friend Yasmin and our little restaurant and cinema dates! Before lockdown we would go to the cinema and out to eat at least once a week! 

Do you have any future tattoo plans now that a lot of tattoo shops have reopened? Yes! I have an appointment to do more work on my black work blast over arm! I also want to finally get my knees tattooed! I’ve been putting them off for years as the thought of getting major bony areas tattooed grosses me out – I hate the feeling!

Do you have any upcoming projects or plans for your channel or new merchandise you would like to tell us about? I don’t have anything major in the works at the moment I kind of just make content when I come up with the ideas or if something major happens with in the tattoo world like the recent sexual assault allegations I like to make content on that so more awareness is made!

At the moment I’m trying to create more awareness for black and POC in the tattoo industry! There’s a lack of representation so I want to use my platform to celebrate POC tattoo artists and those that tattoo on darker skin tones! As for merch, I think I want to start getting my artistic subscribers involved and commission some fab art from them to use on merch! 

Words: Lucy Edwards, a 20-year-old tattooed university student, cat mum and trying-new-things enthusiast. You’ll most likely find Lucy posting about mental health awareness and self-acceptance on her Instagram.

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Strength in softness: Claire Louise Tarrant

Claire Louise Tarrant creates cute girly tattoos with a tough edge at Gravity Tattoo in Leighton Buzzard. We chatted to Claire about her tattooing style and inspiration...

I was first inspired to become a tattoo artist when I was at university studying fine art. My work has always been illustrative, but I never thought tattooing could be a “grown up” career. Nowadays, I think it’s the most intense job I’ve ever had! I was very lucky with finding a studio where I could learn to tattoo, but found the male dominated studio and industry difficult to navigate.

When I first started dating, before I met my partner Josh, I got the typical weird questions about my tattoos and if it meant I liked pain. Even now I often get the odd customer who says comments such as “women with tattoos are sooooo sexy”. It’s boring! People who have loads of tattoos or can easily get tattooed, honestly forget that they’re a big thing to other people. 

I quit tattooing around three to four times due to anxiety and fear of what committing to tattooing meant. It’s such an amazing, insanely cool job, but it’s also overwhelming. It’s helped shape me as a person in more ways than I can count.

I’m now at a all female studio, Gravity, run by the fabulous Holly Astral. Having a female mentor who understands what being a woman in the industry means has given tattooing an entirely new light. It’s now fun and exciting! Tattooing makes me feel like my inner child is playing every single day; I get to be creative, I get to chat with exciting people all day and I get to travel around and discover new places all the time (well before lockdown I could).

I feel as though I’m doing what I was put on earth to do; I practice Reiki and I’m studying to become a counsellor as well. I get to use these tools I’ve learnt on clients too and I feel so connected to the people I tattoo and other tattoo artists. I hate getting tattooed as I’m a huge baby, but the powerful feeling of having another piece of art on me forever reminds me how clients must feel! 

I would describe my style as traditional, playful, feminine and illustrative with a pastel and muted colour palette. In the future I’d love to concentrate on traditional style pieces covered in glitter effects, pink and gold! 

I am massively inspired by history in my flash sheets and tattoo designs. I’m obsessed with the Tudor period; there’s something so magic about castles, weapons, royal flags and embroideries. I also love traditional styles of tattoo flash, but with the colour palette of mustard, gold, pink, mint and maroon.

I like the idea that something tough can be beautiful; women can soften anything!

I love tattooing flash sheet pieces; I only ever tattoo them once, so I like knowing that it’s been tailored colour wise to the client specifically. I do, however, love connecting with a client and understand them more to do a custom piece! 

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Heleena on cultural appropriation in tattooing

Heleena, a tattoo artist and owner of Francis Street Tattoo in Leicester specialises in traditional south Asian folky tattoos. A ‘Guji baby’, shes’s been speaking out about the inequalities and discrimination in the tattoo industry, here she talks about cultural appropriation within the tattoo world and why it’s problematic…

I only found out what cultural appropriation actually meant very, very recently. We all know the term and get the gist – it’s not yours and you’ve taken it, also don’t make money off it if it’s not yours. But, the definition is adopting something from a culture when you belong to a different culture, so it’s the adopting that’s the issue.

I feel like cultural appropriation is such a tough subject to speak about and I feel like a lot of people don’t speak about it. It’s difficult to talk about because it’s hard not to offend anyone, but it’s good to have uncomfortable conversations, it’s important.

In my point of view, I think it’s wrong to profit from someone else’s culture, especially if you’re profiting from something you don’t actually have much knowledge about. Profiting off a culture is bad. I’m not saying you should know everything about Indian culture, I’m not expecting someone to know a lifetime’s worth of culture.  But if you’re going to use that art work, you should give back to the community that you’re taking from. 

So if you wanted one of my ladies, you’ve come to me, you’re not appropriating. I’ve done it, I’ve designed it for you. You’ve come to a south Asian person to have south Asian art, I don’t think you can appropriate art it if this is the route you’ve taken. It’s like if you go to India and buy a piece of art. You’re giving back to that community, and to a person who has that culture. What would be an issue is if you went to a white artist and say; ‘I’ve found this on Pinterest, it’s so cute, I know nothing about it, please tattoo it on me.’ That’s a big issue. I’m genuinely hurt that people are making money off my culture and don’t understand basic facts about it. 

The line between appreciation and appropriation

There’s a very fine line and obviously it’s very hard to tell if someone is on that line without getting to know them or knowing the person who they are. It can be very disrespectful to want something cause it looks cool, rather than knowing about it. I wish more tattooists would question a person before they tattoo something religious on them, for example.

I feel like I might get criticism here, because I do tattoo religious iconography on people that aren’t brown, because Hinduism is more of a spiritual thing – you don’t have to convert to Hinduism, it’s more of a state of mind. So some of my clients and regular clients are white. Many of them get a lot of my work done, and they’ve been to India, they’ve prayed in temples, they’ve done everything to assimilate to the culture that they’re in while they’re in it. And I appreciate that, that is a form of appreciation, you didn’t go there just to take cute pictures and look cultured. You went there to actually learn about the culture and immerse yourself. It’s a huge difference. 

This is the thing with appreciation and appropriation, because someone can seem very much like they’re appreciating. But if you appreciated properly, if you knew enough about something, then you wouldn’t adopt it for yourself. Like the cornrows and Bantu knots of African women – ‘oh I’m appreciating cause I’m wearing this’, but if you really knew the oppression black women have faced about their hair, why would you want to join in with that? It just shows when people adopt things they don’t actually know shit about them.

I don’t claim to know it all, but the things I do know about I’ve learnt through reading – we’ve all got the internet you know! Google it all! What’s that saying? In the age of the internet, ignorance is not an option. I think that’s very true, and I don’t think there’s any reason to be appropriating at this point.

Whitewashed your feed

There’s been an influx of artists that have been trying to compensate for the lack of colour in their posts. It’s really strange did you know that you were doing this? Was this unconscious or did you know and now you’ve been called out for it? Or did you not realise and you’ve come through to own up to your mistakes?

There were a lot of angry people around my post about desaturation and taking the colour out of tattoos, saying things like, “so what we can’t edit our photos, we’re just taking the redness out?” I don’t know if anybody knows this but tattoos get red. I don’t know where the obsession with taking the redness out of pictures has come from. That’s what they look like. Nobody actually knows what they really look like, for some reason when we post a picture of a new tattoo it looks like it’s already healed, there’s no redness or swelling, no blood.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBTLultndIu/

I used the term ‘corpse like’ on Instagram, which somebody didn’t really like, but that’s how it feels when you see someone taking the colour out of your photo – you look cold, you don’t look yourself, it makes you question – why did they do that to me? Why did they take the colour out of my skin? That’s definitely why I think stop erasing our skin tones. There’s no need for it. 

It’s nice to see brown bodies, that’s something I wanted to see when I first started getting tattooed. I only came across one Indian/south Asian tattoo artist after a lot of searching. I’m very appreciative that my feed is very brown, it’s orange and warm. I really wish I saw stuff like this when I was 18 and first wanted a tattoo and I wanted to know what it would look like on me. Google Indian/south Asian tattoo artist now and a whole bunch of stuff will come up and I’m a part of it!

The only brown person in the room

I asked my followers what it felt like to get tattooed as a POC and some of the answers were hard to read. Some of them were really heartbreaking. I asked because I didn’t know if it was a just a me thing, obviously me being a tattoo artist I’m usually in white spaces a lot, having white friends as well. I’m always the minority, it sounds terrible but I always feel uncomfortable, I sit with that discomfort a lot and I don’t say anything. When it comes to finding a tattoo artist, I’m heavily tattooed and like traditional work. Most traditional tattoo artists are white men. Whenever it comes to meeting a new artist, I’ll get scared and I’ll hesitate and think, I don’t want to go to this person in case they’re racist. It’s a genuine fear any time I meet somebody I’m terrified that I’m going to walk in and they’re going to look at me and think, ‘oh shit, she’s brown, I don’t want to tattoo her.’ I fear that they’re going to say something horrible to me and it’s happened before.

Kelly Smith did my back and she’s the loveliest person I’ve met in my life, but before I met her I was thinking, I’m going to be sitting day sessions with this woman, never met her, she could look at me and be like ‘omg she’s brown I can’t tattoo her.’ It’s a genuine thing, are they going to be racist, are they going to like the fact that I’m Indian?  It’s like those fears you feel when you meet a new artist for the first time, I’ve never met this person before. Are they going to be a complete dick? We’ve heard all the horror stories of the victims of sexual assault in the tattoo industry, they should never feel that way. Then the added fear of being a POC and a woman, and being in that situation. You’ve got double the fear, are they going to be racist, are they going to sexually harass me? It’s horrible.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBQ7CuvnsWk/

Those were the things I was expecting when I asked the question to my followers but the things I heard were far worse. People had paid someone to scar them and then weren’t given the satisfaction of seeing that post on Instagram or if it was posted, the artist had edited away that person’s skin tone. People told me that tattooers had outright refused to tattoo people them or people’s skin had been ruined. It’s horrible, it’s so sad, and it breaks my heart that people have to deal with this. And I’m glad I asked that question because it opened up so many people’s eyes, it opened up my own eyes to the extent of how bad it was – as I haven’t gone through all of it. As a tattoo artist I am privileged as I know my clients will never have to deal with that. I think it was an eye opener for everyone!

It’s when people don’t see it as an issue, obviously I am a POC, I am very aware when I’m the only brown person in the room, but when you’re the majority in the room, you wouldn’t notice. In some sense I don’t blame people for not seeing something that doesn’t affect them, but when people are listening to you and they say, ‘I don’t feel like that, I’ve not noticed that’, you have to continue to say I’m telling you this has happened to me. 

Everything I drew was black and white

I’ve told people about the struggle I felt getting into this industry and they were like, well I didn’t do that to you, that’s not me. I’m not telling you that you did it I’m just telling you that’s what happened. When I got my first apprenticeship the artist actually said to me, ‘I hired you because Indian people work hard’. And I thought, ‘omg sick, being Indian got me a job’. Now I’m like he thought I was going to be an obedient little stereotypical Indian girl. And obviously I wasn’t that so I got fired very quickly.

I thought that in order for me to get a job in this industry I had to whitewash myself into very Eurocentric drawings in order to fit in. So I did a lot of neo-traditional work, but I still gave things a sort of Indian-y flair because that’s what I’ve always been drawn to. It’s interesting cause I feel like my work hasn’t really changed but then when I look at it, there’s new things.

When I moved back to Leicester, obviously there’s a huge asian population. Embracing the Indian side of my work would be liked here – people would like it more. Funnily enough I don’t really have a lot of clients from Leicester. Most of my clients travel from different parts of the country, which is amazing. Obviously it’s mad cause no one knows there is a little brown girl in Leicester that does tattoos, when I meet people they can’t believe it. 

No two skin tones or skin types are the same

I think if you are a colour work artist, it is important that you figure out how to adapt your colour palette to other people’s skin tones. Something I saw a lot from my questioning and the POC experience of getting tattooed, a lot of people got turned down or were told colour wouldn’t work.

I’ve seen colour tattoos on black and brown people, and they look amazing, they’re gorgeous. They don’t look the same as they would on white people, that’s not the point and it doesn’t need to look the same. It’s beautiful in its own right. 

No two skin tones or skin types are the same. You have to be able to adapt no matter what. Cause you don’t know what the person’s skin is going to be like if you’ve never tattooed them before. Everyone’s skin is different, so I don’t understand why if your skin is visibily different people would refuse to tattoo you – that’s a huge issue. 

I’m guilty of it too, I used to tell people that I didn’t do colour because I didn’t know how it was going to work on POC. I didn’t think it would work because during apprenticeships, that’s what anybody is told – tattoo a POC and the colour turns out like this, the tattoo does this and this. Then you believe it, but seeing other artists be like no it actually does work. I feel like an idiot, why did I just take somebody’s else word for it instead of learning about it and implementing it in my own art work?

By colouring a different coloured piece of paper or just turn the screen brown on your iPad, then add the colour to find what colours work. I see a lot of tattoo artists do that as well with their flash sheets, instead of having it just on white paper they use brown paper. That’s so cool, they’re so smart! Obviously tattoos won’t look like how they do on pen and paper but you get the gist. The contrast more than anything seems to be what everyone has the issue with. The lighter you are the more contrast black has one white, the darker you are the less contrast, it doesn’t mean that you can’t see it – it’s not invisible. 

The patch test thing has been controversial too, because if you wouldn’t do a patch test on a white person, why would you do it on a black person? It kinda make sense but I guess we’re not at the stage yet where we know enough about doing colour tattoos on POC. We need to build that skill set and can look at a POC and know exactly what colours will work with their skin. Since we’re not at that stage the best way to do it is to just put pretty little coloured dots on people, obviously it’s not going to look terrible but it’s like a little rainbow. I think the patch test should be a free service though, I don’t think you should be paying for it. It’s not your fault that you need a patch test, it’s that artist’s lack of experience.

One last thing I would like to say to anyone who reads this, stop getting Buddha heads tattooed. It’s very offensive. In Thailand they have signs everywhere saying do not get a Buddha tattooed on you. I don’t know the ins and outs of it but the fact they have to have signs up telling people to stop getting them tattooed on you kind of says it all, doesn’t it? So now whenever I see a Buddha tattoo I’m like NO. You don’t understand, if you really knew about Buddha you wouldn’t have got that tattoo. If you really cared that much about Buddhism you would have known it offends them – so shame on you. 

Heleena is continuing to speak out and challenge the tattoo industry, make sure to follow her Instagram and why not join in the conversation yourself?