Ancestral
Presence
symbolic
Tattoo
A tattoo is many things. If a body is the vessel a mind and soul are joined with to carry them through this life, a tattoo can be a way for that mind and soul to communicate with, connect with, and celebrate the body, and a way for the body to communicate with the universe it inhabits in ways known and unknown to the mind.
Temporality
A tattoo marks skin, and also marks time, as it distinguishes the time in life after the skin is inked, from the time before. I often describe tattoos as powerful portals to the spacetime wheren the tattoo was created, and often those with tattoos nod in knowing agreement. I believe a tattoo can help anchor us to ourselves across space and time, deepen relationship with the many versions of ourselves we become in a life, and offer a way to send and receive strength, wisdom, and myriad other blessings from both pasts and futures.
Ritual
The moment when a tattoo comes into being is always a potent one, and so to honour that moment I consider the tattoo process to be a ritual space. This looks different for each person, and put simply means that before we begin I invite us both to bring our attention to the present spacetime, from which the tattoo art emerges. The moment could encompass a span of time in a number of sessions, or one afternoon. I encourage people to take as much of their day as they will to be free for the process of the ritual, and for their own contemplations, integration, and wanderings.
Tattoo art
Presence . Ancestral . Symbolic
As much of the visual form of the tattoo itself as you are comfortable with, is left to what emerges from the present moment of the tattoo process. Sometimes that looks like someone entrusting the entirety of the tattoo to the present moment and perhaps not even seeing the tattoo until it’s completed. Other times it looks like incorporating something symbolic, whether that be a particular element, a plant, or an ancient symbol. There are some symbols which have emerged in cultures across the world, like the spiral, which often form the building blocks of how the art is formed.
We can say that our bodies are each a physical manifestation of all the ancestors who have come before and after us. Each line on the skin, each curve and undulation, colour and texture, is so because our ancestors have blessed us with their form. Because these tattoos are created not on a computer or on paper first, but on the body, the form of the body itself guides the shape that the tattoo takes, and through this the tattoo can be a way of honouring our connection with ancestors- those who have come before and after, and all of the plants, animals, and other beings we consume which become our physical form. This aspect of the tattoo can be something which you chose to make particularly present if you desire, and if so we will hold the intention of ancestral connection in the tattoo process and let that inform what happens.
Booking a session
Before I tattoo someone I like to have a conversation with them about what is guiding them to want to put art on their body in this moment, and they can share with me as much or little as they like in that conversation. The method of tattooing which I use requires trust from the person being tattooed, something which I intend to recognise and honour each time. Sometimes that means that in this conversation we will realise that it’s not a fit, and perhaps another tattoo artist is right for that person in that moment. If we chose to go ahead, we then pick a day for the tattoo ritual which feels right, and discuss whether the entirety of the tattoo form will be left to the present moment, or if something symbolic will be incorporated.
If you’re interested in having that conversation and potentially booking something then you can get in touch via my email ogechispacetime@protonmail.com or instagram page @queertattoolondon
Pricing of my tattoos is decided with a sliding scale, so I encourage you to pay the amount that feels right to you, considering your own finances, and my time, energy, materials, and craft. Nothing is too big or too small if the number feels right to you. I am also open to trades if there is something you are able to offer in exchange.