I’ve been a fan of Paul Wiley's tattoo work for a long time. He works in a lovely monochromatic, highly graphic style; in particular I love his text treatments, which have a unique blend of classic tattoo text with contemporary design flourish. He travels all over the world with his tattoo work, so when I heard he was going to be in SoCal, I knew I wanted to book some time with him. My right arm has Micah Perry’s gorgeous organic florals, and my left arm has Edwin Marin’s sharp graphics — so each arm is starting to have a defined POV in terms of art and story, and Paul’s work is definitely a good fit for the graphic feel of my left arm. The inside of my left forearm is my Everlasting Gobstopper, with the mantra that Wonka mutters quietly in gratitude after Charlie gives the candy back (paraphrasing Merchant of Venice, “So Shines a Good Deed in a Weary World”). So on the opposite side of that forearm, I wanted something equal in terms of text treatment and graphic impact, with another personal mantra of sorts. I decided on a song lyric, one that was intrinsic to my coming-out in the 1990s. In addition to the queer dance/industrial/new-wave/post-punk music that defined my 1980s, in the 90s I started to discover female singer-songwriters; in particular, The Indigo Girls, and their album “Swamp Ophelia”, which became a touchpoint of my coming-out process. In the song “Least Complicated”, there were some lyrics that hit me like a ton of bricks, giving voice to that weird feeling as a queer kid navigating the hetero-social world and not knowing quite what to take away from it, not knowing how to apply what you see around you to the queer feelings inside that obviously don’t fit the puzzle correctly:
“Some long ago when we were taught That for whatever kind of puzzle you got You just stick the right formula in A solution for every fool I just sit up in the house and resist And not be seen until I cease to exist A kind of conscientious objection A kind of dodging the draft A boy and girl are holding hands on the street And I don't want to but I think you just wait It's more than just eye to eye Learning things I could never apply What makes me think I could start clean slated The hardest to learn was the least complicated”
I sent the song and lyrics to Paul, and he came up with this beautiful illustrative text. It’s a perfect bookend to my Wonka/Shakespeare quote, one that sums up my queer coming-out experience; it’s also a poetic take on the New England pragmatism that I inherited from my amazing father. Unexpectedly, I also realized it wasn’t just about coming out anymore, it was about me NOW, especially about what I’ve been through the past two years personally and professionally. In addition to being more physically painful than my other tattoos due to type and location, this one was truly cathartic in the best sense, and I burst into tears when Paul showed me the finished product. Kudos to Paul for being not only an amazing artist, but a sweet, kind man whose lovely, soft baritone stories helped keep my focus on an even keel through some heightened nerves and pretty serious pain, and for wrapping me in the biggest and most protective bearhug afterwards.
