The pandemic isn’t over, but by now, several tattoo places are already opening up to serve clients. Social media has seen tattoos have a resurgence in popularity. Refinery 29 mentions the tattoo artist celebs who are helping to drive the trend home. However, the COVID epidemic has made all of us take stock of our tattoo preferences. Even artists, knowing the need for cleanliness and how easily viruses can spread in a studio, are cutting back on the provision of services.
Professionals Are Being Careful
Tokyo’s renowned Horimitsu is practicing again, but only on domestic and local clientele. International customers will have to wait a while before experiencing the Japanese master’s work on their skin again. House of Ruin, also known as Aidan Koch, is similarly not allowing new clients into her Joshua Tree studio. However, to satisfy our curiosity, she has been posting the pre-drawn tattoo art (known as flash sheets) on Instagram. Other artists are still working on new designs for clients once the virus is dealt with permanently, but at the moment, no one is sure how long that will be. Studios such as Mystic Owl Tattoo keep their artistic talent flowing so they can come out strong at the end of the crisis.
Art Takes Time
The downtime gives many artists a chance to experiment with the things they have wanted to do but couldn’t because they were too busy. Some artists are taking it to the extreme. The BBC reports that Chris Woodhead, a tattooist from north-east London, is tattooing a new design on his skin for each day of the lockdown, and now is worried about running out of space. The rest of artists aren’t this extreme, with most just focusing on new designs so their clients can experience their art, even if it can’t go on their skin as yet.
The New Normal Might Affect the Industry
The Spokesman reports that some smaller tattoo parlors in the US are experiencing severe struggles because of the shelter-on-place orders. No one is sure what the long-term effects of the virus will be on those who have already been infected, or whether the virus will mutate before we locate a cure. At this point, like other businesses, tattoo parlors are merely holding out hope that a miracle will happen that will allow them to reopen. In areas where the pandemic had less of an impact, tattooists have already resumed business with notable changes to procedure to cater to potential re-emergence of the disease. Whether this will become a standard procedure in other parts of the world is something we don’t know.
