(Picture: Bluestone Babe)

Think of the tattoo world and you probably conjure up images of some black-clad dude covered in full-length sleeves in some darkened studio.

The tattoo industry, much like the art world, has been a male-dominated space from time immemorial.

But that’s all changing.

The Other Art Fair, which is taking place next week (22-25 March) is giving space to the new generation of female art stars shaking up today’s ‘pale, male and stale’ art world.


It’s not that fewer women are studying at the top art schools – they are. It’s about the opportunities they’re afforded once they leave the hallowed halls of Chelsea, Glasgow or the Slade.



But tattooing is something new altogether.

We’ve seen a rise in feminist tattoos ever since Hillary started her campaign for the White House, with increasing numbers of us getting GRL PWR or ‘Still she persisted’ inked on our bodies.

Handpoke tattoo artist Rosa Bluestone Perr (AKA Bluestone Babe) is based in NYC but will be showing in London next week at the fair.

Her tattoos are about as delicate and beautiful as you can find. Motifs include vaginas. Cats. Melting ice lollies. Fish.

She says that she started out as a painter but ‘it felt like a very natural transition from one medium into the other’.

‘It was on a post-college road trip to California that my best friend and I gave ourselves our first tiny tattoos,’ she tells Metro.co.uk.

‘After that, I wanted more tattoos but I had trouble finding artists who were offering small and delicate designs, so I started making my own and my friends wanted them.’

Stick and poke, or handpoke tattoos are done entirely by the hand holding the needle – while the ones you get in a parlour are done by a machine.

The result? Handpoke tattoos end up looking more hand-drawn and natural because the tattooist is literally drawing on you.

Her most popular designs, she says, are of roses and other florals, skeleton queens, felines and decorative jewellery pieces – so all ultra-feminine.

But why is feminist art having a moment right now?

‘Just a moment? Feminist art isn’t having a moment in the sense of being a fashionable trend.

‘We’ve always been here and we aren’t going anywhere. Of course, our increased visibility is a good thing but if anything, it’s a movement and not a moment, and we still have a lot of work to do to ensure that the increased visibility for feminist art is inclusive of all women, women of colour, queer women and trans women.’

As for tattoo artists, although it’s largely male-dominated, Rosa does says that she thinks the balance is starting to tip.

‘We are more visible than ever. More and more people are intentionally supporting female-owned businesses and female artists, including tattoo artist – and that’s great.’



The very majority of her clients are women, partly because her tattoos are so beautiful but also because ‘getting a tattoo is an intimate and personal experience and I think women feel more comfortable being tattooed by women’.

She does, however, tattoo some men who also appreciate the intimacy and comfort of the experience.

‘Everyone deserves to be treated with care, love and support.’

Tattoos, it seems, are becoming a visible badge of resistance – particularly for women.

‘Tattooing allows us to reclaim and express ownership over our bodies in a society that won’t even let women have control over our own healthcare.’

Rosa will be tattooing at The Other Art Fair. No pre-booking is required – slots are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more info, check out the website here.

The Other Art Fair, 22-25 March 2018, Victoria House, Bloomsbury Square, London WC1

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