The rise of custom tattooing

By Josh Couillard

4/26/10

Sitting just steps away from the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass. is another art gallery of sorts. It is one where the patrons become the canvas for artwork. It is a place built on transformation and self-expression. Simply put, it is a tattoo shop. Welcome to Witch City Ink.

Witch City is run by owner and tattoo artist Natan Alexander (pictured right). His third and most recent shop north of Boston, Alexander said Witch City is based on the idea of custom artwork and providing original tattoos to its clientele.

"We're strictly about the art," said Alexander. "Out here in the suburbs, people who are coming to me have done their research, maybe looked online, maybe have read something about what I believe about tattooing, and are looking for a different experience."

With a strong base in the art world, outside of tattooing, Alexander and his staff are pushing for their medium to become a recognized and respected art form.

"What makes us different is just the caliber of the artists," said Alexander. "I hire people who are painters. I really make sure that everyone has a foothold in the art world before getting into the tattoo world."

It is that dedication to the art of tattooing that has kept clients returning said Donna Rurak, an owner of four custom tattoos from Witch City Ink.

"I go there because they are all artists," said Rurak. "They're not just a tattoo place. It's like they're genuine artists."

The four Witch City pieces she sports, including the raven perched atop three bright red roses on her right shoulder, were all done by artist Matt Maguire. He has been tattooing since 2002, but also has a vibrant history in the art world itself.

"Matt is a comic book illustrator who's been published in Heavy Metal," an adult illustrated fantasy magazine, said Alexander.

"My apprentice graduated art school," he continued. "My most recent apprentice at my other store is already an award-winning fine artist. Those are the only kind of people that I want to bring in to tattoo because I feel like the customers deserve our integrity and our best effort."

Alexander started tattooing back in 1992 while living in Amsterdam. He had originally been an illustrator working on rave posters, an area that he said helped bring a more painterly effect to his present day tattoo work.

Upon coming back stateside in 1996, he found that tattooing was illegal in Massachusetts. "It hadn't even been on my radar screen before that," said Alexander. "When I realized it was illegal I got proactive and started working on getting it legalized."

He teamed up with colleagues from around the state and formed the Mass Ink Link, a group dedicated to the legalization efforts. After throwing numerous parties, benefits and even speaking before the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Alexander and his crew linked with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and brought a case against the state.

In 2000, the tattoo ban was overturned, and Alexander was one of the first to set up shop in Massachusetts. He also began efforts to start the Boston Tattoo Convention, an event going into its ninth year this fall.

"It's a good time," said Alexander. "It's not really about some sort of angry rebel lifestyle, it's just about art appreciation."

That idea of art appreciation has made its way into the academic and fine art worlds as well. Alexander was recently asked to speak at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Boston regarding the art and legalization of tattooing.

Monica Garza, the Director of Education at the ICA, said she sought out Alexander because of his immense work with the Boston Tattoo Convention and legalization efforts in Massachusetts.

"Natan has a pretty good perspective of the tattoo community in Boston and how different it is, and its association with academia as well," said Garza. "I think he's got a really good perspective and hold on that, and that's something I'm hoping that he can translate also into our discussion here at the ICA."

While Alexander may be busy with other ventures, he said his clients and their art are his main focus. Working on only between one and three larger sized tattoos a day, Alexander said he can produce a better work of art.

"It really allows me to focus in on what I'm doing on that person, and I'm establishing a connection," said Alexander. "I believe there's a lot more going on in a tattoo than just on the superficial level. If you're not someone who's doing art for the joy and the love of it, you probably shouldn't be doing it in the skin."