Contributed by Josh Fryfogle
Art comes in many forms, and tattooing has been around for millennia. For most of that time, tattoos were symbolic, representing rites of passage or other significance. These days, the technology to create more detailed and expressive art on the human palette has expanded the art form into secular culture. While the roots of this art form, like almost all art, has been spiritual or cultural, modern tattoo art has more to do with individuation than tradition.
It’s this sense of self-expression that draws people into shops like Body Piercing Unlimited and Tattoo in Palmer. The artists that do tattoo work here occasionally get a request for traditional work, like Alaskan Native tribal tattoos, but the most common reason people in Alaska get tattoos is to commemorate certain events in their life.
“It’s therapeutic in that the physical pain helps them to externalize the pain of life experience...” says Valerie Berg, shop manager and senior piercer at Body Piercing Unlimited.
One of the oldest art forms known to man, tattooing as a craft draws many visual artists who are proficient or professional in other mediums. “I am the catalyst that puts the art on the client,” said Lakeland Wintersun. After a brief hiatus as a member of a traveling fire circus, Lakeland returned from the Lower 48 about a year ago.
Walking around Body Piercing Unlimited, all over the walls you see canvases showcasing the art of the artists, but not just flash art for tattoos. Comics and paintings, quirky and edgy, all reflect a deeper artistic urge that fuels the tattoo industry.
“Art is anything that creates motion or emotion,” Lakeland Wintersun said. “Art is an expression using raw materials,” says Stevo Chancey. It’s clear when talking to the folks at Body Piercing Unlimited that art is an important topic to the staff, causing a lot of consideration and contemplation. They take art very seriously, which is certainly something that any client would want in a tattoo artist. Not only do they care deeply for the craft, but the combined training and experience of the staff of artists at Body Piercing Unlimited is impressive.
Art degrees, fine art, foreign language, symbolism - tattooing requires a well-rounded and knowledgeable artist. Tattoos are not done by machines, but by people, artists who care deeply for their craft and pour real soul and thought into art that will stay with you forever.
“It’s the highest form of commitment, I think,” says Wintersun.
