Female tattoo artists of Athens push boundaries, redefine industry

Athens is home to a rich tattoo scene – from Pain and Wonder, established in 1995 soon after a county-wide ban on tattoo shops was lifted in Athens, to Tomorrow Tattoo, which recently opened on South Lumpkin Street in the Five Points neighborhood.

Challenging stereotypes

Since its inception, the tattoo industry has undergone many notable changes. In what has historically been a male-dominated scene, various women-owned shops grow and develop in Athens. Businesses such as Dark Horse Tattoo Collective, Pink Goblin and Pain and Wonder are all female-owned tattoo shops in Athens.

Jess Clark, owner of Dark Horse Tattoo Collective, said that she is excited for the recent increase in female and LGBTQ+ tattooers.

“These groups of people that were once marginalized have really come to the forefront and are thriving,” Clark said.

Unfortunately, issues such as sexism and racism have historically been present in the industry and persist in some scenarios today. Parker Jarrett owns a piercing business located in Walk the Line tattoo shop, and as a Black and Native American woman, she said that she has faced both racism and sexism before from clients.

“I am heavily tattooed. So I do know a thing or two about tattoos, but a lot of times, guys that come in don’t want to hear what I have to say about tattoos,” Jarrett said. “I have had a few experiences with slurs, and as far as sexism goes… [its] the blatant disrespect that comes along with not being taken seriously.”

Clark has also experienced misogyny in her field of work. She said that she was once told by a fellow tattoo artist that she “better tattoo like a man and not a woman,” and in some cases, men have refused to be tattooed by her because she is a woman.

However, Clark said that the tattoo industry is becoming more inclusive, especially in Athens. Despite the challenges of the industry, the female-owned Athens tattoo businesses continue to support one another through it all to facilitate a more accepting industry.

“We all share this love and passion for the same thing, and we all care enough about it to want each other to succeed in it,” said Jarrett.

Amy Duran owns her own tattoo business housed inside of Dark Horse Tattoo Collective, called Amy Duran Studios, where she offers both cosmetic and artistic tattooing services. She said it is important to recognize the female tattoo artists in Athens who “paved the way” for the current ones, including Bethra Szumski, who owns Pain and Wonder, and Devon Mellor, who co-owns 3 Ravens Tattoo & Piercing with her husband, Jim Mellor.

Carolyn Rittweger, the current manager of Pain and Wonder, began working at the shop in 2005. She said that when she started her job, “people were still scared to come into tattoo shops and scared of people with tattoos [at the time].”

However, she said that over the course of her employment, she has seen tattoos become more normalized and expand to a wider variety of people as an acceptable form of self-expression.

“All walks of life are getting tattoos now,” Rittweger said.

Revamping the customer experience

As more people are getting tattoos, the client experience has become increasingly important. Tattoos are permanent body modifications and not only does the physical design stay with the client forever, but so can the overall tattoo experience. This is why it is important for tattoo artists to ensure that their client is comfortable throughout the entire process.

“If [the tattoo] is there forever, there’s emotion attached to that and when you look at it, you remember what it was like when you got that tattoo and how it felt,” Duran said.

Clark said focusing on the client and their comfort is one of the requirements she has for any of the artists operating in the Dark Horse Tattoo Collective.

“It’s important for us to come from a place of understanding and compassion,” Clark said.”

Jarrett said that she feels body modifications are a huge undertaking for both parties involved, and it is important to have “some trust between the client and their tattooer or piercer.”

“I definitely think body modifications,either giving or receiving a body modification, is very much like a relationship between the two people involved,” Jarrett said.

Duran said that in certain places, it was typical for a client to walk into a shop where the tattoo artist had more control over the tattoo and the aspects of its design than the customer. But now, many shops have begun to prioritize the client’s comfort in a more meaningful way. According to both Clark and Duran, female-owned tattoo shops are helping to encourage this shift.

The future of female tattooers

Duran believes the growth of women tattoo artists has benefited the tattoo industry as a whole, as the women help to create new types of comfortable spaces for all different kinds of clients.

“I think women being a part of the industry has been really good for it,” Duran said. “There’s still room for that old-school, masculine kind of energy… but there’s also a sort of a new energy that comes in when you’re talking about women owning the businesses and tattooing themselves.”

Additionally, Clark said that she thinks the challenges women and other minorities are more likely to have faced in the tattoo industry can inspire them to create a more comfortable space for their clients.

“A studio environment is really [important] to me,” Clark said. “And I feel like with queer and female tattooers really coming up in the industry, you’ve seen more of that progression in this order. You don’t have as many people. You take your time with your clients. You’re really listening.”

Ensuring a pleasant experience for a client allows them to fully embrace the self-expression, confidence and any other positive emotions their new body modification may bring. According to Rittweger, seeing clients feel confident and proud afterwards is what makes a job in the tattoo industry so rewarding.

“My favorite moments are when, especially women, or young girls, come in and get a piercing or a tattoo that they were really worried about and feel like a bada** when they leave,” Rittweger said. “I think it’s really empowering to do something that you’re scared of… I love seeing young women feel like that. I think we aren’t often encouraged to feel like that in society”

Women-owned shops are a catalyst for progress in the advancing tattoo world. These Athens shops are pushing the field in a positive direction, encouraging a more diverse industry filled with safe spaces for all.

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