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By Madushka Balasuriya
The public perception of tattoos has come a long way. What was once primarily the domain of gang members and rebellious teenagers – and a universal signifier of a wild, if slightly regrettable, night out – has now evolved into something more widely-accepted, something by which individuals can stand out while simultaneously memorialising beloved moments, places, and people in their lives.
Indeed, by virtue of being a modification of your body, a tattoo becomes a part of your body; it tells a story – of who you were, who you are, and what you hold most dear.
“This tattoo, I had a close friend in school who had epilepsy and it hit him pretty hard, and he had to have a couple of brain surgeries, so I got that for him. Then these are my two dogs – it looks just like them – and this is my cat from when I was little,” explains Roanna Webster, as she takes me on a journey of the tattoos on her forearm.
“Then that’s my ‘jungie’ (underwear),” she laughs. “It’s like a love letter for all your young days, all that love lost. There’s some other random stuff too, like a spider, cos I just wanted to get a spider.”
It would be understandable if many folks found the contrasting nature of these tattoos – some profound, deep, others random, light-hearted – jarring, but on just one of her arms Roanna is able to perfectly capture who she is, and by extension shine a light on the spectrum of reasons humans find tattoos so beguiling.
“I don’t think it’s an addiction to the pain, but maybe an addiction to changing your body. You can buy clothes and other things, so this is similar to having an accessory to your body.”
“My friend who did all my tattoos in this particular area [points at forearm], we went to school together in the US, and we lived next to each other and were really good friends, and then after I was tattooing for about a year, he also started tattooing. He did all this in his first year of tattooing, and I thought it was just amazing. One day when I see my friend again I want him to finish these remaining spaces.”
Roanna is of course Sri Lanka’s first-ever female professional tattoo artist, and earlier this year finally registered her company Savage Art Ink with the Registrar of Companies. The studio at the moment comprises Roanna (Insta: @rowebs), her husband Shafraz (@piercings.lk) who does piercings, apprentice KhoËlie (@khoelieart) who does art and murals, and piercing apprentice Anthony.
In Roanna’s six years tattooing professionally she says she has seen first-hand a change in perception when it comes to tattoos, especially in Sri Lanka, and more so for women.
“In Sri Lanka there has definitely been a change. People are understanding more about what they want, it’s becoming a little bit more open. People are a little bit more open to getting tattoos. It’s not so taboo for women to get tattoos.”
Roanna’s emphasis on women is not unexpected. Flawed societal norms have for decades painted women with tattoos and piercings in an unfavourable light, which is unfortunate considering the cathartic and liberating experience many cite for getting a tattoo.
Roanna, who in recent years has seen a few more women take up tattoo artistry as a profession, welcomes their entry into the industry, as she believes it helps to further break down some of the other barriers women have in terms of getting tattoos.
“Yeah, definitely women are more comfortable with a female tattoo artist. Husbands feel totally okay with their wives coming. And a lot of females get tattoos in somewhat private places, and they have to feel really comfortable to do that.”
This feeling of comfort extends to all of Roanna’s clients, and is a core part of why she decided to branch out on her own.
“I was working with some other artists but I had a vision of what I wanted – this kind of atmosphere, this kind of vibe. So when we found this location, we knew ‘this is it’. I saw it and knew I needed this place.”
Located at 375 R.A. De Mel Mawatha, Savage Art Ink might be a little difficult to spot at first, as they are yet to put up a board outside, but when you eventually do make it up to their third floor space, you get a sense of what Roanna was getting at in terms of vibe and atmosphere.
With the chilled rock vibes of Incubus, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and more softly playing in the background, a clean spacious layout, and a well-lit work space, Savage Art Ink instantly puts you at ease.
Before beginning a procedure, you also can’t help but notice the attention to detail in terms of hygiene. Every piece of equipment used is brand new where possible.
“The important thing is that any tattoo artist sets up everything brand new in front of you. The cover on the machine, the cover on the power supply, all these have to be changed every time. A lot of people when they come to get tattooed say ‘wow, I’ve never seen a tattoo artist change this many things’. There should be new gloves, even the bottles have to be covered. It’s not just the needles.”
According to Roanna, the lack of hygiene at some other tattoo parlours comes down to a general lack of awareness and education among tattoo artists who take up the profession without any proper training. ‘Scratchers,’ as they’re commonly known, usually begin tattooing as a hobby and then go on from there, something which understandably leads to less-than-desirable hygiene practices. This was also the reason why Roanna was adamant on Savage Art Ink being located in an office space as opposed to a house.
“Working in your house in the US is really frowned upon. Even if your hygiene and everything else is up to par, if you tattoo in your house, you just get lumped in with scratchers, who primarily tattoo in their houses and don’t have the best standards.”
How to pick the tattoo artist right for you
In terms of picking the right tattoo artist, Roanna eschews conventional wisdom and urges people not to simply go on the recommendation of friends. Rather, conduct your own research, look up reviews, and identify what style of art each tattoo artist is strong at.
“Don’t just go to someone because you heard about them. First go online, check their work, see their reviews. Don’t just go to them because your friend told you about them. That happens a lot and it’s okay, but we always ask people who come in if they’ve seen my work before and stuff like that, because if they can get an idea of my style, then I can incorporate that style into their tattoo. You have to always check the artist’s work before you go, because not every artist is the same and not every artist has the same kind of style.”
For Roanna, realistic tattoos and ones that are large black and grey pieces are ones she won’t undertake, though apart from male genitalia she says she’s comfortable tattooing pretty much any part of the human anatomy. That said, her first experience with a weird request was a daunting one.
“When I was tattooing in the US, these girls just ran in and one said, ‘can you tattoo my butt crack?’ I was taken aback because I was just around 20 at the time and I was worried about seeing this girl’s butt and stuff like that. I was really young and I hadn’t been in that situation before, but I said yes because of course these things are going to come up. Thank God it was really fast, the tattoo took all of five minutes; they just gave me the money and ran away and I never saw them again.”
No regrets
As we wind down our conversation, the subject of regret eventually comes up. It’s something many folks have trouble with when deciding to get a tattoo. But Roanna, who has some 50 tattoos and plans to get more, says it’s all relative.
“Tattoos change with your bodies. I used to really worry about it when I was younger, and I know it’s something a lot of people worry about. But as someone who’s gone through it, I always tell them ‘don’t worry so much, it’s permanent but it’s also impermanent’. I mean, you’re not alive forever, right? “Honestly I don’t judge people who have impulse tattoos, because I’ve been there, done that. It just depends on their personality, if they’re going to regret it or not later. I have had clients who would get a tattoo and after a couple of months want to cover it up. That’s okay. It’s not that the tattoo is bad, it’s just that they don’t like it anymore. And we have options, we can draw something over it and cover it up or something, so it’s okay.”
You can find Savage Art Ink on Instagram (@savageartink).
Pix by Sameera Wijesinghe
