Cynthia Coronel-Madrigal

Writ 2
The Art of Tattoos

The stern pressure created and upheld by society and media, specifically in the

US, has formed a social stigma against people with tattoos, clumping them in specific categories

with negative connotations such as gangs or sex-workers. However, as tattoos have gained

popularity throughout the years, it’s shown that all different types of people collect these pieces

along with the amount of creativity and skill needed to create a tattoo. This artistic skill can be

seen across social media platforms, articles, teaching curriculum, and tattoo competition shows

broadcasted on national television. All these forms of publication result in a new discussion

about tattoos and tattoo artists branching out into the world of art. These discussions held by

each source is part of a discourse community. Catherine Savini, an associate professor at

Westfield State University, defines discourse community not only as a social group that share

specialized vocabulary and standards used to communicate, but the quest of asking different

questions1. To clarify, this means a group of individuals in different disciplines might concern

themselves with the same issue by asking different questions. In this review, each source

concerns itself with tattoos and art by asking “How can tattoos be art?” or “How are they being

perceived as art?”. Many academic journals within the anthropology discipline have engaged in

such research about broadening the concept of art to include tattooing. However, they fail to

bring in non-academic sources into the discussion as another tool or even engage with other

academic disciplines outside of their own. This limits their discussion as the majority of the

public don’t seek out or have access to these academic sources; thus, their findings will have

difficulty imprinting into the world if only a certain amount of people have access. To make up

1
Catherine Savini, “Looking for Trouble: Finding Your Way into a Writing Assignment ,” in Writing Spaces: Readings
on Writing, Volume 2, ed. Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky (Parlor Press, 2011), 57.
 Cynthia Coronel-Madrigal
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for these gaps, this literature review will merge multiple non-academic sources with other

academic sources to further the conversation about tattoos as an art form. Bringing these sources

together will help correct the constraints made in each case by introducing personal, anecdotal

evidence with quantitative data and fulfill areas that each source lacks. This review provides

insight into the tattoo community and encourages society to include tattoos as another form of art

to dismantle the harmful prejudices formed against people with tattoos.

In the 1999 anthropology peer-reviewed article entitled “ A Body of Work: A Case Study

of Tattoo Culture,” art professors Janet Fedorenko, Patricia Stuhr, and Susan Sherlock reflect on

how their presentation of tattoos can be used to broaden the concept of art. They conducted this

research through audiotaped interviews, photographs of the site, and notes on the social and

physical contexts of receiving a tattoo. Through their study they found that although the stigma

attached to tattoos still remains, the trend in tattooing has caused an acute awareness of artistic

expression being a part of the tattooing process. Hence, the ability to define tattoos as an art form

to broaden the concept of art. However, the form of publication and explanation of quantitative

data limits their finding to other literary scholars excluding the vast majority of people who do

not seek out or understand the concepts of these academic sources. Since this source is out of

range to the public, they cannot effectively present their findings to influence. The article also

fails to bring in non-academic sources as a use of evidence or perspective to aid in the

explanations of their findings.

While Janet Fedorenko, et al peer-reviewed article takes a more academic approach to

tattooing through the use of interviews and note taking, the 2012 tattoo competition show

entitled “Ink Master” takes a more mainstream approach of introducing the general public to the

tattoo community through network television. Here the television show focuses on showcasing a
 Cynthia Coronel-Madrigal
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group of talented tattoo artists by having them compete against one another to win a cash prize of

$100,000 and the title of “Ink Master”. Each week the contestants are assigned a human canvas

and a design challenge in which they must demonstrate their skills and versatility as a tattoo

artist. Broadcasting this series on television is important because this platform is easily

accessible to most, causing a larger audience to witness the creative process of tattooing as there

are a number of styles and designs that artists perfect to appease their clientele. The format of the

show is constructed in a way that is easy for audiences to understand, enjoy, and access that most

literary pieces do not always possess. It is easy for audiences to understand because it follows the

format of other reality based tv shows that most tv watchers are used to seeing which grasps their

attention and increases the likelihood of them watching the series. This format slowly causes

tattooing to infiltrate the media to include tattoos as an art because of the creative skills

necessary for the tattoo process. The style of the show proved to be working as it has now been

going on for 13 seasons.

From the show “Ink Master”, season 8 winner Ryan Ashely has been using her Instagram

platform to publicly display her tattoo artwork for her 1.4 million followers. Ashely’s platform is

different from that of the television show “Ink Master” as she reaches a more direct audience that

chooses to follow her were as “Ink Master” can reach a larger demographic from people who

follow the show or those who “ channel surf”2. Ashely’s posts each illustrate the amount of skill

needed to tattoo as each piece she creates is different for every client. Some posts that showcase

this include one that is her winning tattoo piece declaring her the winner of “Ink Master” which

was a black and white tattoo of a woman’s face with the wings of a swan on the side of the face

2
The action or practice of surfing through a television program usually by use of a remote control.
“Channel Surfing.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster,www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/channel%20surfing.
 Cynthia Coronel-Madrigal
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and the swan head protruding out of the woman’s forehead. The entire thing is deconstructed

where there is red-highlighted gaps between the face and the swan with feathers wrapping

around the base of the neck3. Another post is one captioned “Moon dream,” representing an

entire black and white piece of a crescent moon with facial features surrounded by clouds and

stars with a woman’s body immersed in them4. A final post depicts a realistic portrait of a cat

wearing a top hat and a monocle5. Each work publicly displays the different creative skills the

tattoo artist is equipped with as every piece she creates is different from the last and is unique for

the client. Similar to many artworks where it is one of a kind and holds such intricate details that

would otherwise be difficult to replicate. Such as Van Gogh’s oil painting The Starry Night or

Michelangelo’s fresco painting The Creation of Adam, just to name a few. Having a platform

that reaches millions of people demonstrates the growing influence tattoos are having on people

since many are willing to follow someone specifically for their artwork.

While Ashely chooses to publicly display her tattoo pieces on a major platform to reach a

direct audience, a New York Times article , published by journalist Emily Randall and entitled

“Tattooing Makes Transition from Cult to Fine Art,” uses a different approach to discuss the art

of tattooing. Randall’s pursued the discussion by issuing an article on a well-trusted news source

to provide concrete examples illustrating tattoos being held in a place where art and fashion

meet. Prestigious art institutes, stated in the article, are now holding exhibits exploring tattoos as

an art medium. Having a well-known institute hold such an exhibit where art critics go

3
DiCristina, Ryan Ashley. (@ryanashleymalarkey). “Here is the tattoo that I did live at…” Instagram, 26
September 2019.

4
DiCristina, Ryan Ashley. (@ryanashleymalarkey). “Moon Dream” Instagram, 30 October 2019.
5
DiCristina, Ryan Ashley. (@ryanashleymalarkey). “And they say chivalry is dead…” Instagram, 17 November
2019.
 Cynthia Coronel-Madrigal
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demonstrates that tattoos are now being held in the same regard as other art pieces. It represents

the progressive steps society is taking towards tattoo culture in effort to integrate it not only in

art institutes, but societal values. These examples are something some academic sources do not

provide because it is a non-academic source, thus limiting their ability to implement their

findings. These non-academic sources also were not available for some of these academic

sources as the growing popularity of tattoos did not occur until after these findings, thus

illustrating the progress of the general public to slowly include tattooing as a part of art.

With tattoos being introduced formally into the art community, stated in the New York

Times article, their artistic style and methodology are now being used to teach biological

concepts. Biologists and physicist DorothyBelle Poli, Matthew Fleenor, and Matthew Rearick

collaborated on a research project aimed to provide an understanding on how the art history of

tattoos is used to engage college students learning about physics or biology. The researchers

discussed the elaborate ways tattoos are being used as a learning device such as teaching the

effects on the skin, disease risks from tattooing, and the physical mechanism behind the tattoo

machine. Student from classes whose course applied these devices were then asked their

thoughts regarding how the material was taught through the use of tattooing. The researchers

found that 64% of the students provided positive comments about tattooing in their learning and

would like to see more applications as they enjoyed the engagement and insight6. Although, this

review does not discuss tattooing as an art it does provide great insight towards the direction

tattoos are heading. With tattooing being introduced into academic settings as learning devices it

6
Poli, D., Fleenor, M., & Rearick, M. “Drawing on popular culture: using tattooing to introduce biological
concepts”. The American biology Teacher 74(6) (2012), 381-385.
 Cynthia Coronel-Madrigal
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exemplifies society’s slow incorporation of tattoos in the general public, in hopes to break down

barriers.

The start of tattoos in the US left many stigmatized and stereotyped resulting in them

being labeled with negative associations. But as they slowly gained popularity, many academic

scholars decided to research tattoos to gauge a better understanding of them and the people who

collect them. Along the way they began to research tattoos as an attempt to broaden the concept

of art. However, because they are academic sources, they do not bring in other non-academic

sources to help further the conversation. This limits the potential for further discussion as most of

the public do not seek or have access to these literary sources. To bridge these gaps together, this

literary review merged non-academic sources such as social media posts, tv series, and published

articles with academic sources to extend the conversation of tattoos being an art form. The non-

academic sources demonstrated how over the years, tattoos slowly began to integrate into the

general public and art spaces resulting in steps toward dismantling the harmful stereotypes

against tattoo collectors and artists. In conversation, these sources point to a hopeful future for

the world of tattoos where they no longer hold stigma and prejudicial judgements.
 Cynthia Coronel-Madrigal
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Bibliography

DiCristina, Ryan Ashley. (@ryanashleymalarkey). “Here is the tattoo that I did live at…”

Instagram, 26 September 2019.

DiCristina, Ryan Ashley. (@ryanashleymalarkey). “Moon Dream” Instagram, 30 October 2019.

DiCristina, Ryan Ashley. (@ryanashleymalarkey). “And they say chivalry is dead…” Instagram,

17 November 2019.

Fedorenko, Janet S, et al. “A Body of Work: A Case Study of Tattoo Culture .” A Body of Work:

A Case Study of Tattoo Culture, University of Illinois Press, 1999, www-jstor-

org.proxy.library.ucsb.edu:9443/stable/pdf/20715974.pdf?ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_SYC-

5187_SYC5188%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastlydefault%3Aeead1a7471cf29da412b7dc0b324

7c3e.

Merriam-Webster. Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America's most-trusted online dictionary.

Merriam-Webster. http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/channel%20surfing.

Poli, D., Fleenor, M., & Rearick, M. (2012). Drawing on popular culture: using tattooing to

introduce biological concepts. The American biology Teacher, 74(6), 381-385.

Randall, Emily. “Tattooing Makes Transition from Cult to Fine Art.” The New York Times, The

New York Times, 8 May 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/arts/artsspecial/Tracing-

the-transformation-of-tattoos-.html.
 Cynthia Coronel-Madrigal
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Savini, Catherine, “Looking for Trouble: Finding Your Way into a Writing Assignment,” in

Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Volume 2, edited by Charles Lowe and Pavel

Zemliansky, 57. Parlor Press, 2010.

Weinstock, Steven, Hersh, Glenda, and Andrea Richter, creators. Ink Masters. Original Media,

2020.