Oz (@totality________)
My name is oz, I began tattooing myself as a way of channeling feelings and urges of self harm from the age of 11 years old. I gave myself my first tattoo while unwillingly held in a psych ward with a safety pin that somehow slipped security and some marker ink - a small “XO” on my knee, that’s still somehow there holding strong. At the time it felt like the most powerful form of autonomy I had, some small act of defiance I could cling to. I think often tattooing can culturally reflect this - we are a society in a form of captivity, whether we are imprisoned behind bars, integrated into the serfdom of capital, or in a psychic state of non-autonomy. Initiatory & ritual tattooing, along with many other forms of body modification is inherent to every culture’s indigenous rooting, and is a practice that reclaims our bodies, selfhood, autonomy - in a reality in which we are under the weight of generations of colonial harm.
I started my path into being an artist through experimental sound & performance, installation building, curating, and eventually evolved into visual art. I chose to take my visual art discipline to tattooing because it felt like the most ethical way to support myself as an artist, without creating assessed objects - rather it is a service, shared and in collaboration with those who seek out the work, living and dying with our bodies themselves. I work in a client centered way, and try to connect with those I am working with to find a piece that suits them in a holistic way - challenging barriers to self and aligning with your personal tastes and sense of embodiment.
A lot of my work is inspired by ephemeral, unintentional marks we leave behind; cracks in a sidewalk, peeling house paint, tire marks - many of which would never have existed in nature before industrialization, but have become the natural surroundings of our paved over spaces.
I like to work on larger, cross-body pieces, and offer free consultations and paid design sessions for those who need more planning and guidance in the process. I have a light hand and work to be sensitive to pain tolerance, trauma, and sensory needs. I offer sliding scale work to Trans & BIPOC clients, and offer free sessions to those non-consensually tattooed in trafficking situations for cover up and/or body reclamation work.
DM