By Andrea Payne
Ink and needles. Combined with the human body, skin is transformed into a canvas used to tell a person’s unique and inspirational story.
Andrew Wilson, local tattoo artist at Stay True Tattoo, explained how tattoos are meaningful, appealing to the eye, and artistic.
“I think it’s a form of expression,” Wilson said while sanitizing a needle. “It’s your own body, and it’s an empowerment thing.”
Individuality is what makes these personalized body paintings real works of art, he said.
Justin Maxie, Stay True Tattoo customer, expressed how the aptitude of tattoos has changed society.
“Just like all other forms of art, or expression, it has become a physical manifestation of what is inside of a person,” Maxie said.
Maxie said younger generations have more tattoos than older generations because it is the first way millennials tend to choose to express themselves and appreciate artwork.
Leonard Santos, tattoo enthusiast, spoke about what he finds compelling about tattoos and the tattoo industry.
“I think what’s interesting about [tattoos] is that literally anything can be a piece of artwork,” Santos said. “You can have a simple design or you could have much more planned to it.”
Santos also said he loves to see tattoos that reveal an individual’s cultural background or heritage.
Wilson described how tattoos have meaning.
“It’s body art,” Wilson said. “It’s a different process, just like painting is a different process than drawing. It’s ultimately how people show who they want to be.”
Wilson said his favorite tattoos are portraits. Wilson explained he enjoys tattooing eyes because he is able to bring an expression to life on an individual’s skin.
Maxie expressed why body art is important while providing insight on the irreversibility of tattoos.
“Any tattoo that you get, especially since it is permanent, should be true to yourself,” Maxie said. “It should also be true to whatever vision you want to express at the time since it is something that’s long-lasting.”
Maxie spoke about the popularity of tattoos as people are choosing their body to display art as a common form of aesthetic expression, while Wilson spoke of tattoos allowing people to create or highlight special memories.
“It reminds them of people,” Wilson said while smiling. “It’s a lot like that remembrance that you get with music if you listen to a certain song all the time. You’ll remember that certain person, or who you were with, in the same way you would when you get a tattoo.”
For more information on tattoos, or to schedule an appointment with a tattoo artist, please contact Andrew Wilson at 806-441-5209.
READ ALSO: The Tattoo Taboo
About JOUR 3312
The tattoo is something that always breaks the fence in society. At first, it was a taboo, but the recent adaptation of it in mainstream culture has changed its acceptance, and now it is a fashion statement that people are doing to prove their identity. Some folks go to some extent to call the process a spiritual and psychological experience that calms the mind. They do tattoo because of the meaning convey by it.