Tag: Female Tattoo Artist

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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.

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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.

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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?

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Botanical babes – Ella Eve

We recently spotted Ella Eve’s tattoos and artwork on Instagram. As soon as we saw her botanical babes series and nature-inspired tattoos, we knew we had to find out more…

How long have you been tattooing and how did you get into the industry? I’ve been tattooing for six years and I’m currently tattooing at Blind Pig Tattoo club in Brighton. My journey into the industry was a little unusual. I knew I wanted to be in a tattoo studio environment and Initially I took a job in a studio doing nail art for a short time. Consequently it was through the people I met in that space I eventually plucked up the courage to ask for advice from my friend who was a tattooist, and her guidance pretty much led me to where I am now, so I’m very thankful for that.

How does it feel to be a woman in the tattoo industry, do you think this has an affect or impact? I remember when I started tattooing I felt and continue to still feel very empowered to be a female tattoo artist. However, as a previously very male dominated craft, it’s hard to not feel slightly mismatched to the job at times of insecurity, and quite often there’s an underlying feeling of having to prove yourself. It can be hard not to overthink what your place is within an already quite judgemental industry, and especially now that social media plays such a huge role within advertising and promoting services.

In terms of being a female, I’ve heard from some clients that they prefer to be tattooed by women. Some completely inexcusable behaviour from certain male tattooists really tarnish it for the rest of the completely respectful men in this industry which is really awful. Hopefully we will put a stop to those people who abuse their positions of ‘power’ by calling them all out. I do feel I need to say, I wouldn’t explicitly say that I myself hold the opinion that being tattooed by a woman is a favourable experience to that of a man, I think it’s all dependent on the clients preference at the end of the day. As a tattoo can be such a private experience in terms of placement, it’s understandable some would specify a preferred gender anyway.

On the whole, it’s so great to see so many women making incredible work all over the world, making a stand for huge changes within the industry and also to personally know some insanely talented female artists too.

What inspired you to get your first tattoo and then become a tattoo artist ? I got my first tattoo at 18 because I was driven by a need for self expression and rebellion which is pretty much exactly what everyone would say I expect! I come from a big family of artists most of which are women and so finding your own identity was a lot harder.

I loved the idea of having something permanent on my skin that was mine and also back then I wanted to design everything I got myself. I think when you have been creatively driven your whole life, self expression is like the air you breathe and getting tattooed was another way of tapping into that.

As for inspiration for becoming a tattooist, the hardest years of my life were those where I put a cap on my desire to create and just existed in a more ‘realistic’ job making ends meet. I spent a lot of time, maybe too much, determining where I belonged in the world. It’s funny because when I think back, the concept of me working as a tattooist when I was 18 was completely terrifying to me. I was so afraid of failure, had no belief in my abilities and the pressure attached to adhering something permanently to someone else’s body was just mind blowing.

I was fascinated with the process of tattooing, the development from ancient tattooing and the current modern day abilities of tattooists. So, the desire was always with me but I had no idea who I was or how to find the confidence to do anything with it. It’s so scary to present your work to someone and ask for a chance, you really do feel like you’re laid bare waiting to be torn apart, and it was a whole eight years later that I eventually found the courage and thankfully it paid off.

Are there any artists you admire or female tattooers that helped you get to where you are? There are SO many artists I admire, it’s hard to whittle them down to just a few. Artists such as Greggletron, Kamil Czapiga, Tyler Pawelzik, Jack Peppiette, Kelly Violence and Suflanda are hugely inspirational for their consistently flawless work. There are some pretty special ladies I admire for their incredible talent and hard work also such as Tahlia Undarlegt, Liz Clements and Jo Black, the gals at Black Moon in Frome, and Deaths Door in Brighton. All of which have helped me in various ways, they may or may not realise.

What do you love about tattoos? Adorning your body permanently with whatever you feel and want is one of the most powerful things you can do. There aren’t many things in life where we have the ability to take complete control of something to that extent. In the same breath, being able to be part of that process with someone can be seen as nothing less than an honour. There’s no other feeling like it.

Can you tell us about your own tattoos? Do they change how you feel about your body? I would honestly say that I have never got a tattoo to change how I feel about my body. I genuinely see an incredible piece of tattooing and want to own it. Most of my tattoos are a homage to the people who made them and their talent. It’s also awesome to collect tattoos from friends who are tattooists, that feels pretty great. There is so much to learn from getting tattooed when you are a tattooist which just makes the experience even more invaluable.

When it comes to the tattoos you create how would you describe your style? What inspires you? I am a nature freak through and through. There seems to be a running theme through anything I do. It’s not as recognisable as some other people’s practices, but there is something that has innately captured me when it comes to the intricacies of nature. I love repetition and sequences in the natural world and without literally focusing solely on sacred geometry or mathematical sequencing translated into imagery, I think there is always an underlying botanical theme in whatever I do.

My belief is that people should appreciate the benefits of going outside and actually looking at the insanely amazing intricate natural world we live in. That’s definitely something lacking in the modern technological world. I’ve seen that lockdown seems to have reignited this in people a bit more, which I’m hoping will carry over when the world is up and running again.

You’ve been doing a series of botanical babes, we love the one you did of our editor Rosalie. How did these come about and how can our readers get involved? The botanical babes project started during the early stages of lockdown and Initially it was a way of giving back to my clients and followers, giving people something to look forward to and get intrigued and excited about, and of course keep me busy!

The idea carries directly over from the work I was developing within my tattoo practise beforehand so it was also a great way to develop those ideas further. In turn it’s become something so much more than I expected. The feedback I’ve received from people on a personal level about seeing themselves in a totally different light due to these drawings has been amazing. I really didn’t expect that. I’m also so grateful for the amount of submissions I’ve had so far. I’m still open for more, so any readers can just visit my Instagram, drop me a follow and a message with a photo of themselves. Submissions are completely free and open to any age or gender, and physical prints are available for £20 each.

What do you love to tattoo and what would you like to do more of? I love to tattoo portrait style pieces, especially within the style of these botanical faces I’ve been doing recently. Having done my botanical babes project I’d love to go back to work and be able to tattoo more developed pieces within that vein. I love the ‘nature on nature’ element of these pieces. I’ve literally joined the beauty of the human form with the beauty of nature and I’m excited to be able to work more on this concept.

Do you have any guest spots planned (obviously when lockdown is over!) This year was meant to be my year for travelling! Typical! But I’ll definitely be rebooking the guest spots I had planned before the pandemic. These include Parliament in London, Northgate in Bath, Easy Tiger in Leeds and Two Snakes in Hastings. I also had plans to travel to LA and San Francisco in October which I don’t think will be going head, but I’m hoping to rebook those dates also. Thankfully, I did manage to attend my guest spot at Black Moon in Frome, and I’ll now be doing regular guest spots with those very lovely guys in the near future!

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Interview with Abbie Johnston

Down a sheltered side street dotted with little coffee shops and small businesses sits Studio 58 in Carlisle, Cumbria. It is here in this quaint little part of the city that tattoo artist Abbie Johnston creates stunning blackwork tattoos. Her work often features a dark or spooky twist on nature and animals; she has also ventured further into the realm of witchcraft inspired tattoos, so many of her designs have a generally witchy feel to them.

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‘Witchy tattoos’ can be anything from a bubbling cauldron to a simple sage bundle and they are becoming increasingly popular. You don’t have to be a witch to get a witchcraft inspired tattoo and while to many people they may have great meaning, to others the aesthetic is simply just really appreciated. That’s what makes Abbie’s more witchy designs so wonderful to me, they appeal to so many people aesthetically and they celebrate the craft at the same time. As a practicing Wiccan myself and a lover of all things spooky It’s hard not to love Abbie’s designs alongside her respect and admiration for the world of witchcraft.

I decided to chat a bit more with Abbie about her career, artistic influences and her opinions on witchcraft and Wicca in both her work and her personal life too…

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How long have you been tattooing and what led to you becoming a tattoo artist? I’ve been tattooing for five years now. I’ve been interested in tattooing since my early teens but never really thought I’d get into it due to how hard the industry is to break into. I decided to study illustration at university first and build my drawing skills and then I just went for an apprenticeship and got it! I was quite lucky in terms of getting into tattooing but at the same time I worked my ass off.

Where do you get your inspiration from and what influences you? I’m heavily inspired by nature. I grew up on a little farm, so I was surrounded by woodlands and wild animals which have always fascinated me and I think it’s just translated into my work. I also love scouring charity shops for books on birds, animals and flowers because they give me endless inspiration.

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How would you define your style? I always find that quite hard to answer, I’d say dot work blackwork with a gothic illustrative twist

What is your favourite subject to tattoo? Definitely birds, I don’t even know why I just have some weird connection to them, I’m a bit of a crazy bird lady.

How did you become interested in creating witchcraft inspired tattoos? What are your thoughts on them and their popularity? I just find the whole subject matter fascinating, I have a lot of books on witchcraft and Wicca and it just crept slowly into my drawings. I love the way it translates and can transform a cute subject matter into something more dark and interesting. I also really love the way it’s becoming more popular in tattooing; people are getting interested in it and being influenced by it just like me. Today’s society is a lot more accepting and I think this has helped allow people to become more confident in expressing themselves.

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Do you have any personal interest in witchcraft or Wicca that feeds into your work? I wouldn’t consider myself a witch or a Wiccan but I do get a lot of inspiration from it, the way I dress, the things I like. I just love how connected the whole subject is to nature which is the main reason I was drawn to it. I know a lot about it but there’s a lot more out there to learn and draw inspiration from.

What has been your favourite witchcraft inspired tattoo to design and why I loved doing a piece which was essentially a woodland witch gang, incorporating my love of animals and spookiness my two favourite things to do!

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Do you have any projects, upcoming guest spots or conventions you can tell us about? This year I’ll be working at Big North Tattoo Show in Newcastle and Tatcon Blackpool so far, with some potential other spots to be announced! I’m also currently selling prints to raise money for Badger Trust UK!

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.

Photo of Abbie: Korin Thomson

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Icebergs by Elvira Garcia

Tattoo artist Elvira Garcia works at Hive Tattoo Art Gallery in Milan creating stunning iceberg inspired tattoos, here she tells us the story behind them…

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I have been tattooing for 4 years. I started when I was 20, now I’m 24. I became a tattooist because I love to draw, I’ve been drawing since I was three years old. It’s my passion and my life, everyday I need to draw something.

I remember when I was seven I would love to paint the skin of my friends at school with coloured markers. that’s where it started later when I was studying fine art in university my friends encouraged me to start tattooing and so I did. 

My style is a mix between blackwork and sometimes black and grey. I normally use black because I like how it lasts in different kinds of skin. 

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When I was a kid my father told me that inside our mind we have two things: conscious and subconscious. What we know about us, the conscious part is very small, and on the surface, instead our subconscious is deep inside us, under water, like a deep sea of things, emotions, forgotten experiences that never disappear completely.

The iceberg represents: our love, our fears, our happiness, our depressions, what we have lived, our influences.

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I’ve always drawn iceberg flash to show some of my ideas. To show how the design can look with the iceberg with a subject inside, but they can be also custom. I love to tattoo icebergs and anything related with nature including; animals, flowers, plants, woman and space.

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I normally like to do guest spots because they are easy to organise, you have everything you need in the studio and I tend to work better My next guest spots will be in Munich, Reykjavik, Amsterdam, Zürich and London in 2020. I’ll be posting details on my Instagram so follow me on there for updates.

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Interview with Kajsa Franzén

Tattoo artist Kajsa Franzén is based in Ubud, Bali and in Gothenburg, Sweden. Having sold her female only studio, Red Rose Tattoo, in 2017, Kajsa moved abroad to seek new adventures, she’s been working ‘on the road’ ever since. We caught up with Kajsa to chat all things tattooing and what it mans to be a woman in the industry. She also asks the question – are you a real artist or an Instagram artist?

kajsa1How long have you been tattooing? 12 years of tattooing. And two years apprenticeship – so 14 years in this business!

What made you want to become a tattooist? I was curious how I could make a living out of something where I could be creative every day! When I started in 2006, there were not many female tattoo artists at all, so I wasn’t too sure if it would be possible. I didn’t know anything about the business but as I figured it out I knew I wanted to be a part of it and actually be a part of a big change for the female artists movement! I was lucky to meet my teacher as he just moved from New York` to my hometown. He rose to the challenge of teaching me when I had zero experience.

There were a lot of male artists that tried to put me down and make me stop learning they would say that I was just a groupie. So I thought ‘fuck them, I will prove them wrong. 

Do you have a background in art? No, I’m self thought but I come from a very artistic and creative family filled with artists, painters, art teachers, sculptors. All of whom inspired me to become something I wanted to be. 

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How would you describe your style? I think my style is hard to describe, because it varies, I don’t only work in one style. But its foundation is in old school traditional, with a fusion of new bold and bright colours, shapes and details. Sometimes it is inspired by geometric and mehdi patterns and sometimes it’s infused with neo-trad style.

Some tattoo magazines have described my style as ‘psychedelic new old school’ which I kind of like! 

What inspires or influences your work?I probably get most of my inspiration from nature, animals and the universe. I meditate a lot and do yoga, so my inspiration comes from inside myself, maybe the chakras. And my colour pattern is choosen from the colours I see when I meditate or during healing as well as from nature. Of course I get inspired by other tattoo artists and art, but that is part of what we do.

Are there any artists that you admire?A lot. I couldn’t name just one, but I mainly admire hard working artists that draw their own designs. Nowadays there are so many toys that make tattooing so easy, too easy I think. Everyone can be a super star without any effort really but the hard working artists that draw with a pen and paper would survive even without the internet and a printer.

Living in Indonesia and Bali, I have also gotten to know some of the traditional hand tapping artists that use nothing but a needle on a stick, drawing directly onto the skin. I admire that style of raw tattooing.

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What do you like to tattoo and what would you like to do more of? I think I am a ‘go with the flow’ kind of custom artist. My clients never get to see their design until I meet them on the tattoo day, unless they have very specific requests. So I usually go with the flow and design upon their idea, choose the colours depending on my mood and how I and the client feel that day.

It usually stays very colourful. I love colours and contrasts, patterns and details. I think I would love to do more spiritual and occult, wicca, pagan, sourcery, nature and creature designs. Could be small symbols, or big pieces. I love to tattoo thighs! 

How would you describe your experience as a female in the tattoo industry?I think I don’t have the best experience, but it never stopped me doing what I love. I also have tons of good experiences too! 

Starting in 2006, there weren’t many female artists at all in my town, the second biggest city in the country, only had 4 or 5 female tattoo artists amongst maybe 80 males. I got to know the female tattooers and they all said the same thing and warned me to be on my guard. Because to be a girl in this buisness, you have to sharpen your elbows, have a lot of hard skin and work 10 times harder than a dude.

I was told many times that I was not good enough, people tried to bully me and fool me to make me look bad or to put me down. There was one time when my teacher was sick and I was alone in the shop with this other tattoo artist, he was there to supervise me while I had a client. While I was setting up my station, he came over and recommended that I use another black lining ink for lines, and said this was the best ink he ever tried. I trusted him so I used it on my poor client, tattooing black stars on her chest. Little did I know, the lines spread very quickly and I panicked – it was a nightmare.

He would also steal clients infront of me when no one else in the shop to hear us. Telling the clients I was shit, so they better book in with him instead. I have had male artist, that I know, commenting on my Facebook posts, that I suck and I shouldn’t continue what I am doing.

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Did these experiences lead you to open a female-only shop? I think that was the reason I opened Red Rose Tattoo, with only female artists in 201 – one of the first female artist shops in Sweden. I think there was only one before mine, up in the north parts of Sweden. Called ‘Man’s Ruin Tattoo’ such a brilliant name! 

I wanted to keep a space free from the things I experienced. I wanted to have a space where there were no sex jokes or male artists seducing the female clients. I wanted to have a cosier shop, no pee on the toilet seat, not beeing accused of having my period if they thought I was being grumpy.

But the problem is not only with male artists, I learned that after a few years of running my shop. I have also been backstabbed by my own female shop collegues a couple of times. I think mostly from jealousy and low self esteem. Maybe a bit of mental illness and perhaps drug related problems, but definitely a lack of manners, humbleness and respect to others.

But I do have a lot of tattoo business friends who have lovely attitudes to each other, both male and female, always treating each other with respect. We share our thoughts and techniques, we talk about machines, what brand of needles we use, we help eachother, without any ulterior motive. Just pure friendship and love.

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What do you think of the tattoo industry as a whole?Both good and bad. As with most things in life. It is getting a little bit out of control. The ‘industry’ is growing too fast. Too many artists, too many new inks, needles, products brands and too many fake people. I think it is too easy, there’s too much focus on social media and how many followers you have and how you look. I see a lot of artists hungry for attention so they also use their tattoo platform to post modelling pictures of themselves. They care if you are beeing sponsored or not, if you are cool enough to talk to or to follow on social media. It has become a game. A mad game.One good friend of mine said recently ‘we either have to play the game by the new rules or stay out of the game’.

Do you think social media has changed he tattoo world? There are some truly amazing hard working and honest artists around the world! But there are also a lot of artists using modern tools to edit mistakes to make flawless tattoos, people buying followers, hiring someone to answer your emails and calls because they are beeing lazy or too busy playing the social media game. Now, the whole tattoo industry is worshipping social media.

Clients check how many followers the artist has rather than check if they can actually do a straight line. You wouldn’t know anyway because of all the filters and photoshopped pictures.The hype over ‘fine line’ tattoos where no one really cares if it looks good when it heals. It is just too much to be honest. I love the old fashion business, keeping it real.

That is why I love to see healed work, no filter, just real work, by real artists. I think that is the proof of what you actually are. Are you a tattoo artist or an Instagram artist? When I started there were no Facebook or Instagram. But the industry has adapted, that’s positive all the new tools like Instagram have helped artists a lot, it’s a good way to get clients, to promote and share your work. I think I get most of my new clients from Instagram.

The world now is more ‘instant’, everything should happen fast. You can make your own advertising within a few minutes. You don’t have to wait one month until the next issue of the tattoo magazine comes out with your recent work in it.

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What advice would you give your younger self when you were starting out? Don’t trust people too easily, don’t let people take advantage of you, do your thing and keep developing yourself, and stay away from the drama. 

Are you doing any conventions or guestspots soon? Yes! Since I moved to Bali, I don’t have a studio anymore so I am more free to travel! When I’m at conventions I still use my name Red Rose Tattoo so look out for that.

I used to work in tattoo studios in Bali, but the standards and knowledge about hygiene were very low, and it can be very complicated and expensive to get a work permit. So I guest in friends’ shops and create my art and jewellery – it works out fine for me!

I usually go to my friend’s shop in Singapore Bada Bink Tattoo Firm next time I’ll go there will probably be in December or January. Sometimes I guest in my friend’s shop in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia at Wayang Kulit Tattoo, it is close to Bali. I enjoy working a few days or and then going back to my lazy and slow Bali life.

I still have many regular and faithful clients in Sweden, so I am very lucky to manage this lifestyle because of them! I travel 2 or 3 months every year to visit my family and friends in Sweden. And when I am in Sweden, I work in my former teacher’s shop in Gothenburg 5 Points Tattoo. I am also attending some conventions around Europe each right now I am preparing for the Icelandic Tattoo Expo.