I enjoy being trusted by my guests and building this unique relationship with them. That’s why I love and continue to do tattoo artistry.
“I think being a tattoo artist is a very romantic job. We can quickly establish a deep and meaningful relationship with a stranger, then watch them fade out of my life. The relationship erupts quickly and then disappears.” This is how Orange, 24 years old, describes her feelings about working in the tattoo industry of China.
In February, Orange’s tattoo work began to gain popularity and clients after establishing a local presence through the tattoo shop she runs with her friends. As the Coronavirus pandemic began to subside in the beginning of 2021, Orange’s business resumed its usual hustle and bustle. Then, through the audience of TikTok, the city of Chengdu in the South-East region of China where Orange is based began to trend as a hot, up-and-coming city, known for its photography, tourism, shopping and food. As one of the oldest cities in China, built in 311 BC, the culture of Chengdu and the wider Sichuan Chongqing province it resides in has always had a significant, cultural influence in China and across East Asia.
Living in such a fast-paced city, managing living costs is not easy for many young people and creatives. At present, Orange and her university classmates rent together in the south of the city, not too far from where they work. She insists on developing her career here. In Chengdu, which is often considered as the fashion capital of China, tattoo artistry is not considered as much of an alternative profession. In ancient China, tattoos often carried meanings of being involved in crime or gang-culture, but nowadays, young people’s love of the art means that such prejudices and judgements have weakened. This is why Orange has chosen to stay in Chengdu.
Orange grew up in a traditional family in a small town neighbouring Chengdu, then came to the city to study design. “When I was in college, I did a part-time job in a teahouse. I spent the first money I earned on tattooing. At that time, I didn’t realise that it would be my career in future.” After graduation, Orange learned to be a tattoo artist with her teacher, who gave her her first tattoo. “I missed the deadline to apply for training, but he broke the rules and admitted me.” Now, she has been in the industry for four years and has a respected reputation in the local industry. Also, Orange works as an illustrator, often publishing her illustrative works on social media, where many of her clients come from.
Orange talks about the struggles she has faced in her career. “I felt that my because of my skill and talent, I could complete work independently, but I could not design things that I was satisfied with. It was about two years after graduating from design when my customer, a middle-aged man with one tattoo on his left arm, asked me to make a new tattoo covering the old pattern. My new design was to turn the previous pattern into a character’s face. When he saw it, he asked me why I didn’t cover the old design, and I said, ‘you want to add a new tattoo, but the old one is part of you. The imprint of each step is a part of your life. There’s no need to cover it.’ Then he happily agreed and liked my design.”
“I don’t know why I said that at that time,” Orange continues, “but I’m glad I expressed my opinion. Later on in that tattooing session, he kept talking about his life experience with me – his wife, ex-wife and children. We worked late that day, from 10 p.m. to about 7 a.m. the next day.” Orange says that such conversations are her most favoured parts of the job – “we are able to talk openly, across ages, identities and so on. I think that’s what makes this job so attractive to me. I enjoy being trusted by my guests and building this unique relationship with them. That’s why I love and continue to do tattoo artistry.”
As for her identity as an illustrator, Orange is still finding her feet. “It’s only in the last year or two that I’ve taken the time to take illustration seriously. I’m not so good at expressing myself and haven’t been since I was a child. I don’t like to explain my ideas to others. I’m always quiet among people but since I’ve grown up, I gradually found that illustration is a good method of self-expression, and then I suddenly found that I have the ability to entertain others, which makes me very happy.”
Despite learning art and pursuing such an ‘avant-garde’ career, Orange is not such an eccentric person. Instead, she yearns for the old days when the Internet and technology were less advanced. “Sometimes, I feel a little stressed. I think that everyone is very busy and anxious nowadays because of online and social media. I don’t have any particular goals for the future, just like I never thought I would be engaged in art. I prefer to live slower so that I can see more colours in my life and pay more attention to the people and things around me.”
Recently, Orange is working on creating a series of comics about Sichuan dialect culture, aimed at children. She hopes that her work can help them understand the local, traditional culture. “When I was a child, the adults would often tell me about folk stories and dialects. But, children now have access to more and more information from the Internet and are distracted by this, instead of focusing on traditional things.” She describes how more elements of traditional culture are pouring into this international, cosmopolitan city, but Sichuan dialect is no longer spoken among local citizens. “I think the old, traditional culture should not be forgotten. They may not be as catchy or entertaining as a lot of pop culture, but a closer look reveals that they’re actually pretty cool.” Orange hopes that she can continue to give light to traditional culture through her tattooing, illustration and art.
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