Anna Zelski and Her Work Tattooing
Quinn Bonney | October 18, 2023
Warren Wilson College (WWC) junior Anna Zelski cannot remember a time in her life when she was not making art. Zelski has always believed they are an artistic person and has been drawing her entire life.
Zelsi would draw on her friends in middle school at lunch, just doodling on people’s arms. Constantly sketching and making art is just a part of her life.
She has had a fascination with tattoos since she was a kid. She appreciated people’s tattoos and wanted to know more. Her parents caught on pretty early that Zelski had her eye on tattoos. They made a deal with Zelski that if she did not get any tattoos or piercings by age 25 they would give her $2,500.
That deal did not last very long; since then, her mother has gotten a tattoo from her and her father is planning on it.
She was first introduced to tattooing by her sister’s friend Celeste, who did stick-and-poke tattoos in high school during their junior year. Zelski got her very first tattoo from Celeste who walked her through the process and technicalities of tattooing: how to hold the needle, what needles to get and what kind of ink should be used.
This was when Zelski realized that tattooing was achievable for her. She decided to get her own materials and began tattooing herself. She was worried that if she started tattooing she would never be able to stop tattooing herself – which ended up becoming true.
She believes being heavily tattooed is a symbol of social status but also of financial status, which is something that people often want to reject. It is a clash of self-expression and the means by which it is achievable. However, tattooing is more accessible and realistic than ever, which benefits anyone who wants to express themselves through ink.
For a while, Zelski was hesitant to tattoo other people; she preferred messing up on herself rather than another person.
The WWC campus is a hub for tattoo culture and amateur tattoo artists. Many students begin tattooing at WWC, which Zelski believes is a great way for people to discover their passions. However, it is dangerous.
Understanding needles and proper sanitation is a hurdle tattoo artists must overcome. Zelski did this by getting their blood-borne pathogen certification from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Zelski’s tattoos are a timeline – marking periods of her life through ink. Some tattoos she gets just because they are cool, while others have deep intrinsic meaning.
“When I get a tattoo, each time, I feel even more like me,” Zelski said. “It is very addicting to have that feeling. I think people like to squeeze them [tattoos] in as fast as possible. I want it to be a little more stretched out so I can see my progress.”
Anna has tattoos that she does not believe are representative of herself today, but she still values them as a reminder of who she was when she got them.
After a year of getting comfortable tattooing, Zelski finally tattooed someone other than herself. She did not charge and was grateful for someone trusting her to practice on them.
“I was building up skills to be safe,” Zelski said. “It’s very important, I would feel so much guilt to have caused anybody any harm. I am very diligent about switching my gloves out, and replacing needles when they hit the bottom of the ink cap. I’m not risking any sort of damaged equipment on people.”
Other important factors Zelski keeps in mind are the depth that they tattoo at, and the disinfection and sanitization of their workspace before and after tattooing a client.
The longevity of their art on their clients' bodies is something Zelski prefers to not think about. It is impossible for her to not be critical of her work. It requires trust and communication between the client and the artist to get what both ends want. Even when the client is happy with the tattoo, Zelski cannot help but look for imperfections to learn from.
As an art major, Zelski feels very rushed in a lot of their work and enjoys that she cannot rush tattooing. She slows down her work to focus on line work and shading. Zelski looks back most fondly on this work because it is often exactly what she wants. When making art that will be on someone's body forever, being meticulous is necessary.
Zelski's least favorite part of tattooing is charging people, but she stresses that the money is absolutely necessary. It is expensive to tattoo, especially because she focuses on getting shop-quality supplies. Just the materials to give a 5-inch by 5-inch tattoo cost roughly $80.
Tattooing affects Zelski’s social life as well, as she learns a lot about campus and talks to people she would not usually talk to outside of the tattooing environment. Zelski will introduce themselves to students and they automatically know her as the “tattoo person.”
Zelski lives in a space where her clients are also the people she goes to class and lives with, which puts pressure on her to always have her tattoo persona “on.”
Zelski hopes to get signed to a professional tattoo shop after graduation. Many artists start out the same way she did. Zelski also has a tattooing mentor who coaches her on supplies and the tattooing business industry.
“Every day I think about dropping out and just becoming a tattoo artist,” Zelski said. “That’s what I really want to do and I think it is truly viable for me… To get signed would be game-changing, I’d love to do that after college.”