~resonanteye~

My friend Jason has a great post on his blog talking about Kat Von D and the sexism implied by many other artist’s reaction to her sudden fame.

he makes a great point- people who become famous through “reality” tv are not always prepared for the backlash. They’re not necessarily the best in their field, just people who are pretty good at what they do and who look good on camera.

I’m also a woman who tattoos. I can’t tell you how many people ask me about her- it’s as if she is the touchstone for outsiders, as if being a woman and a tattoo artist means I have some deep interest in her.

The unfortunate thing about this is that I don’t watch reality tv at all; also, I don’t do anything remotely like her work. I work with an artist who does very good black and grey and portrait work. I don’t. I do mostly color work, large color work…I think people just assume I will be like her ini more ways than I am.

Also, I’ve been tattooing as long as she has. I wonder how many people realize that what they see on television is not always going to be true to real life. I’ve always disliked reality-style television, mainly because it blurs the line in a way that I feel is dishonest. Most of the people appearing on reality television are not living their normal, day-to-day lives. They’ve got a script, they’re working as actors on television, not working in the job that’s being portrayed. At least, while the cameras are rolling, they are. And that makes things look a bit different. Being in the chair is a lot different than watching someone else sit there.

I have a lot of sympathy for Kat. It must be hard in a lot of ways to be in everyone’s eyes all the time. I wouldn’t want to be that famous, that way- I get nervous sometimes just having one other artist watching me, let alone all of them! every little slip, mistake, tiny error magnified for your peers to pick apart and hate you for- it must be tough.

I do dislike the fact that whenever I see her featured in a tattoo magazine there are rarely good photographs of her WORK. I have seen her face in other magazines, and that’s fine, but in an industry publication I want to see her work. As an actor she’s pretty attractive…but as a tattoo artist I have no idea. I so rarely get the opportunity to judge her work the same way I judge the work of my true peers, by seeing it in context, presented alongside the work of other tattooers. I’d like it if at least within our own industry’s purview (like the trade magazines) we could focus on what she does, not how she looks while she’s doing it.

Seeing her face and her bikini line doesn’t tell me a damn thing about how good she is as an artist; it’s also sexist. And this is the thing that bothers me.

by the way, any female tattoo artists out there, feel free to join the group over at http://womantattooartist.freeforums.org. It’s a very helpful, and friendly community. If you’re a collector or a male tattoo artist don’t feel left out, there are lots of areas of the forum you can join in on too!