A&E
Girls can play too – paving their way in the tattoo community
Male tattoo artists outweigh female artists roughly 100 to one in today’s industry
Liz Venom, owner of Bombshell Tattoo in Edmonton, works on her client at the Tattoo and Arts Fair Oct. 18. The smile on her face shows she has found a passion in creating works of art on other people’s bodies. PHOTO BY JORDAN KROSCHINSKY/CALGARY JOURNAL
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JORDAN KROSCHINSKY jkroschinsky@cjournal.ca
rom tattoo virgins to bodies covered in ink – this year’s Alberta Bound Tattoo and Arts Festival, held Oct. 17 to 19 at the BMO Centre, was packed with self-expression. However, with varying faces and creative interests, there seemed to be one demographic that fell slightly short – female tattoo artists. The question buzzed over the colorful mass of body art– are women still breaking ground in Canada’s tattoo industry? Although the tables were occupied by an evident equal amount of men and women, the pain stricken painting seemed to be done by a male dominated crowd. Moving into her 18th year in the industry, Stephanie Corvus has been filling human canvases since 1996. “When I first started tattooing, I only knew 20 NOV 2014
CALGARYJOURNAL.CA
one other female artist – I didn’t work with my first until 2005,” she said. Despite the sluggish catch-up, female artists are leveling out the playing field and letting the tattoo community know that girls can play too. “I don’t know if we’ll ever outnumber the boys,” says Corvus. “Either way, there are so many wonderful and talented female artists out there - we finally have a place in this industry.” Even though Corvus has made a permanent name for herself, it’s been far from easy to get to where she is now. At age 19, this determined artist made her way to ten different tattoo shops - all at which closed their doors simply because she was a girl. After a long and frustrating day, Corvus made one last stop. “The manager told me, ‘no one wants a girl to tattoo them.’ He didn’t even take time to look through my portfolio – so I lost it,” says Corvus. “If a d*ck is the problem, I’ll go buy one – it’s
Stephanie Corvus works on a skull tattoo. Corvus has been tattooing since 1996. PHOTO BY KASSIDY CHRISTENSEN/CALGARY JOURNAL