Inked Up: WWC Tattoo Culture
Quinn Bonney | April 7, 2022
Warren Wilson College (WWC) is known for its do-it-yourself (DIY) tattoo scene. Students create and share art in the form of tattoos, whether it's on their own body or someone else’s. Students who have been at the school for a while can testify that it can be difficult to find peers who don’t have at least one or two tattoos.
Quinn Bonney
Madonna’s leg tattoos.
These permanent art pieces have become a form of expression and individuality among students. Tattoos and tattooing have become equal parts art and making a statement.
Until recently, tattoos not on the “scale of acceptability” were seen as signs of being a misfit and a societal outlier by employers. Having tattoos on the face and hands could make someone seem unprofessional or seem aggressive.
There is a persistent harmful stereotype that tattooed people are less refined and educated than those without tattoos. The origins of tattoo culture in contemporary U.S. history are believed to be affiliated with American sailors receiving tattoos overseas, in places America’s bourgeoisie deemed foreign and uncivilized. This adoption of practices, in turn, appropriated global cultures through common and favored tattoo designs.
Tattoos have been reclaimed by America’s most recent generation as a poignant anti-establishment statement. While tattoos present a stigma, older generations and employers have adjusted to their presence. For example, many company policies no longer discriminate against people bearing visible tattoos.
After several decades, tattoos became mainstream. In 2020, the tattooing industry was the sixth fastest-growing retail business in the U.S.
WWC students are among the generation of people using tattoos as an expression piece. Miles Madonna, a sophomore at WWC, believes that tattoos can be identity-affirming.
“It's a form of self-expression, obviously,” Madonna said, “I'm a queer person (and) I'm non-binary, I have found that tattoos are very gender-affirming for me. … My own weird little tattoos do make me look queerer to people.”
While some students get tattoos for affirmation, others get them because their music idols have them. Amateur tattoo artist and first-year craft major Anna Zelski got tattoo inspiration from the musicians they looked up to while growing up.
“I've just always liked the kind of rock metal music,” Zelski said. “It's just a shared interest that I've had with my sister and parents. I just think they're cool, all my favorite musicians have a ton of tattoos, and I always like looking at them.”
The fact that tattoos are permanent body art doesn’t deter Zelski from getting tattoos. A part of getting art on them is to capture who they were at a given time.
Quinn Bonney
Anapol tattooing a bear on Quinn Bonney.
“I don't really think about them as like something that I'm going to have to love when I'm older,” Zelski said. “Because it's almost a time capsule on your body because it's who I was at one point.”
Madonna elaborated on this sentiment.
“You just have a good attitude about it and (if) you don't like it one day, you'll just look back on it and be like, ‘That was sweet.’ Or ‘that was fun.’ Like, ‘I used to be so cool when I was younger,’ you know, like, just don't take it too seriously.”
Professional tattoo artist for Slouch Tattoo Studio and senior art major Payton Anapol believes that people shouldn’t worry too much about the stereotypes of tattoos.
“My inner motto is my body's not a temple and I like to think of it as a vessel,” Anapol said. “I think we put too much weight on the significance of our body, like what if we cared more about our phone cases than our phones?”
Not all tattoos are planned out and have exuberant amounts of thought put into them. Matthew Gilbert, a first-year student, and professional pogoer for Xpogo got their tattoos with little forethought.
“Spur of the moment tattoos are more special to me because they represent a learning experience or moment in my life,” Gilbert said. “I like having art on my body, it reminds me of all the crazy things I do … like I have a pogo stick (tattoo) on the back of my neck, simply because I like pogoing.”
Gilbert received all of his tattoos from peers on campus. He attributes this to on-campus tattoos being significantly cheaper than professional, studio tattoos. Gilbert also stresses that tattoos by his friends have far more emotional importance to him than any tattoo done by a stranger in a shop.
The price of tattoos plays a significant role in why many WWC students get their tattoos on campus.
“I'm a very working-class student (and) I work off-campus.” Madonna said “I'm here on the NC free scholarship. Like, I don’t have money for fancy tattoos, but I also love tattoos. So it's like, I would rather have slightly bad ones than none at all.”
The WWC tattoo community has a unique DIY aesthetic consisting of individualistic-styled patchwork tattoos. Zelski believes the draw of this style is to make it look “home-done,” which fits into the unconformity allure of the college.
Anapol is a critic of specific DIY tattoo styles in the WWC community, commenting on how the style of tattoos can be used to portray a false identity.
“I think a lot of the appeal of the ignorant-style tattoos,” Anapol said. “Wilson kids love cosplaying. There's an adoption of the working-class culture through the style and such. I think (it) kind of informs how people want their tattoos. They kind of wanted them to be shitty; they want to look like a crust punk, you know. It makes them look badass; it makes them look like they don't give a fuck about their body, but (their) parents are paying for their tuition.”
Some students on campus get more out of giving tattoos than receiving them. With the popularity of stick and poke tattoos, anyone can give a tattoo if they have a steady hand and are patient.
Anapol started their tattooing career by giving stick and poke tattoos to students and contributes this to their success as a professional tattoo artist.
“I am endlessly grateful for Wilson students because they trusted me before anyone else to tattoo them,” Anapol said. “Without them, I wouldn’t be in a shop today.”
Zelski, who has been doing tattoos for a couple of months, is adamant about the availability of tattooing.
“I really like the aspect that people are bringing their own individualistic styles to it,” Zelski said. “I think anyone should be able to get into tattooing.”
The accessibility of tattooing supplies on online purchasing websites like Amazon allows students to pick up a tattooing kit and try it themselves. However, proper sanitization techniques are essential in preventing blood infections and poisoning.
Quinn Bonney
Photo illustration: Madonna’s tattoos on their arm.
Anapol trusts WWC students to tattoo them but only if they are following the proper safety precautions.
“...like sanitizing methods and wearing gloves,” Anapol said. “Sometimes I'll see pictures of people getting tattooed by their friends when they're not wearing gloves and that's bad. Obviously, you want tattoos, like, (you) don't have to be a rule follower, but like, be safe.”
Zelski isn’t a licensed tattoo artist, and they only feel comfortable tattooing if they have the correct supplies.
“Proper needles are pre-sterilized, and I disinfect everything that I work with and dispose of all my needles right after I use them,” Zelski said. “So it's fairly safe.”
WWC students will do things themselves, whether it be tattooing or getting tattooed. There is a campus-wide sense of curiosity and expression when it comes to the art of tattooing.
“I just think it's a place to express yourself and like, be your true self,” Anapol said. “Don't be so concerned with if you're allowed to do it or not, but don't tattoo anyone's face. Please don’t.