Tacoma Tattoo Artist Dev
Vian Studios' continuing series of blogs understands the importance of creativity as an outlet during quarantine. I had the pleasure of interviewing a tattoo artist I have been following for over 3 years, Dev Tacker (they/them) on subjects of art, quarantine, and representing the LQBTQIA+ community.
Hi Dev! When did you start getting into tattooing and when did you open your shop?
I began tattooing in late 2018 as a self-taught artist, after falling in love with the queer tattoo scene in Portland Oregon, and seeing a need for trans representation and accessibility in the tattoo scene here in Tacoma. I sought to provide a safe, compassionate tattoo environment for the local LGBTQ community, and opened Big Clam Tattoo in October 2019.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
My art draws major inspiration from recreating and rehashing how it felt to be a kid. I focus a lot of my imagery on lizards because I spent most of my youth catching them, learning about them, and loving them. Other recurring visuals are flowers, toys, fruit, balloons, butterflies, beads, and simple geometric shapes, all meant to evoke the same feeling of whimsy and simplicity.
In tattoo, I am very inspired by other illustrative artists like Keara McGraw (@keara_mcgraw), that have managed to masterfully recreate a hand-drawn quality to their tattoos. I also gravitate to a newsprint-like approach when adding mid-tone to my tattoos, often using dot work to convey value.
How has Covid19 and quarantine affected your work?
My clients safety is more important to me than anything, and ever since I closed my doors in mid-march, I have been very uncomfortable with the idea of reopening. I am still paying rent to keep my studio, in addition to my personal expenses, so I began quarantine by morphing my social media presence into a bit of a casual artistic storefront. I hope to safely return to my tattoo practice in the next month or two, but in the meantime, selling homemade goods has been keeping my head above water.
What have you been doing to stay creative? I purchased one of your coloring books back in April while bored at home and I absolutely love it!
The coloring books were some of the first products I made, and they certainly kept me busy, since I had never attempted book printing / binding on my own before! Hand-painting clothing and casting custom resin charms for jewelry were some other new art forms that I explored during quarantine. My favorite way to create, though, will always be drawing. Unemployment unexpectedly unlocked a new level of time dedication to my ink drawings, and during this time, I have made some of the largest, most elaborate original drawings in my artistic career. It’s been liberating to have the sort of time to create endlessly.
Can you tell me about what you are personally raising money for and how others can follow you and help out?
Before Covid, I was in the early stages in planning gender-affirming top surgery, and during quarantine, I was given my surgery date: January 2021. Since then, I have kicked into double-time, raising funds for my upcoming operation. When I began this process before the virus, I planned on hosting tattoo fundraising events, and had no concerns that I would meet my goal before my surgical date. Covid, however, has been very humbling. I understand that this time has been a collective financial hardship for the majority of my community.
For those who are in the position to help, and desire to do so, I will continue to be pumping out new artwork on my Instagram (@big.clam) multiple times a week. I’m always happy to make custom commissions as well, be it clothing, drawings, paintings, or anything else you have in mind! In addition to artwork sales, I have also set up a GoFundMe, which anyone is welcome to donate to or share:
Follow Dev on Instagram: @bigclam
Check out Dev’s Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/f/xupfb-dev039s-top-surgery
