How the intimacy of the tattoo industry is living and breathing in Denver

Tattoos might not be a new phenomenon, but new trends have revealed another layer to the influential relationships necessary when wearing art on your skin.

American tattoo trends have gone through many stages, starting in the mid-19^th century when soldiers were tattooed to ensure identification if they died in battle. Early sailors tattooed their expeditions and travels, but the trends of the industry were typically unconventional until popularity shot up in the 1950s with the use of color, introducing a new style.

Dubbed as American Traditional, this style featured common themes such as Sailor Jerry, anchors, women, eagles, and the American flag. While still relevant today, the 1990s newer technology and thinner needles introduced more delicate styles, which allowed bodies to be treated more like canvases with a more personal touch.

The recent patchwork tattoo trend uses a single needle for fine lines and shifts away from the bright and bold pieces of the American Traditional, instead focusing on a plethora of small black and grey pieces. 

It’s a fitting cyclical trend in the tattoo community that goes back to the origins of tattooing sailors – to tell stories of one’s life as a symbol of who they are.

Mitzi Musa has worked at Marion Street Tattoo on Colfax Ave for five years scheduling tattoos, organizing their business, and displaying their work – as much of her body is tatted in American Traditional style.

Musa, while not an artist herself, explains the respect and trust that is necessary in the studio. “It’s a very confidential space, you know, sometimes people are talking about some really real shit,” she says. “Sometimes people are getting tattooed for a very certain reason.”

Relationships with oneself are just as important as the relationship with the artist permanently marking one’s skin. Tattooing is an intimate experience no matter the style or the story behind it, however, the rise of the patchwork trend has only increased the confidentiality between artist and canvas.

After conducting an anonymous survey of 130 young people between 18-24 in Colorado, 113 respondents indicated their tattoos have deep, sentimental, and symbolic meanings. 97% of respondents have micro tattoos, patchwork, or minimalist tattoos.

Artists at Marion Street Tattoo agree that the most recent trend of tiny and smaller tattoos remains the most popular among a younger audience. This recent surge in style started as a Tik-Tok trend, with the popularity growing through social media and celebrities.

Third-year undergraduate student at the University of Denver Mary Bella Betts has a total of nine tattoos at 22 years old. Her first tattoo was born out of an inspirational pineapple story when her brother lacked a knife to cut the fruit and instead launched it off a roof to access the juicy insides.

In a retelling of this story, her mom cried. The pineapple symbolizes the brilliance of ingenuity and finding a way to eat a pineapple without a knife – an ode to her family that was raised by alternative learning.

Betts explains how it’s extra special because her whole family matches. “It’s not that everyone got the very same pineapple, so one of my brothers’ is geometric-like and my mom’s has our initials in it,” she says.

This kind of tattoo – deeply layered, well-thought-out, and symbolic– is mirrored throughout the younger populace and reflected in their choices of tattoos.

The tattoo industry continues to grow and change, as it has throughout its history, with the newest trend highlighting how tattoo art is interpersonal. Relationships with oneself and the artist are directly displayed on the human canvases of the Denver community.