If you said tattooing and body piercing a decade ago, lots of blood and dirty needles would usually have come to mind. Say tattooing and body piercing today and you'll find yourself exposed to a revolutionary art and method of self-expression.

Nowadays, the public perception of tattooing and body piercing has changed. They have moved from being the stigmatised, intimidating markings and punctures on prison inmates to a whole new realm of fashion and artistic expression. Tattooing and body piercing, unlike many other socially controversial practices, seem to have risen above the criticism, and are now in high demand.

André Malcolm started drawing on paper and then moved on to skin.

TeenAge recently caught up with Salon Innovation's owner and Body Piercer, Kerry-Ann Spencer, and Tattooist André Malcolm for a chat about their interesting professions and how they got into them:
Corey Robinson: Why did you choose tattooing and body piercing, respectfully, as a career?

André Malcolm: Well, it is just my love for art. I started drawing on paper but then I started on people's skin, and trust me, doing work on the skin is much more pleasing than drawing on paper!

Kerry-Ann Spencer: I was just fascinated with piercings. I loved them as a child and I just decided that that was the field I wanted to go into.

CR: Was there a school for your profession, and how was that experience?
AM: I did not really go to a school to learn art, that just comes naturally, and with tattooing the more you practise, the more professional you become.
KS: Yes, there is actually a school that you can go to learn piercing. I went to the Spaulding and Rogers piercing school in New York for six months, and I have to return three times a year for refresher courses.

CR: People are very concerned when it comes to the sanitation of needles used for tattooing and piercings. How do you go about sanitising your equipment?

AM: I do not reuse anything, so there is really no need to sanitise. Things like ink caps and needles are thrown away after each use. So for every job a new needle and ink cap are used.

KS: That is what makes piercing so expensive! No one needle is used on more than one person, every job requires a new needle. Needles and the jewellery that are inserted in piercing after each job normally cost me approximately US$3,000.00 a month.

CR: What is your marketing strategy and is there a specific age group or social class that you mostly tend to?

AM: My marketing strategy is my work, it basically sells itself. People see my work on someone, critique it and come see me for tattoos. Is there is a specific age or class for tattooing? Nowadays people from all over get tattoos. Many people get tattoos to hide scars or other marks that they do not want to show.

KS: Word of mouth will always be a marketing strategy in piercing, but I have also been on a number of talk shows like Our Voices and Man Talk explaining my work. I get a lot of teenage and young adult customers from all social classes. There is no limit except for age, my customers have to be 16 and over, or below that with consent.

CR: What are the most requested areas that persons are putting tattoos on and piercing nowadays, and what is your income like?
AM: Well, before persons were going for the ankles, but today they are more into the lower back with vines or waords like 'sexy'. Each tattoo costs no less than J$2,000.00 and I will do like three or four tattoos a day on weekdays, and about half a dozen on weekends.

KS: People are piercing everywhere nowadays, but I would say that the belly button and tongue are the most requested areas. The piercing and the jewellery cost anywhere from J$500.00 to J$2,000.00 dependent on the body part and the type of jewellery they are getting.

CR: Where do you get inspiration for your work?
AM: I am inspired by almost everything. Anything that a person can think about I can put on their skin. I make designs in a notebook I have, and there are also tattoo catalogues, which customers can look through to find tattoo designs. I even have a facility to do private tattoos for females.

KS: My inspiration comes from my customers' mind. Anywhere they want a piercing, as long as it won't harm them in any way permanently, I do it.

Teenage@jamaicaobserver.com

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