Artist Profile: Red Clover Tattoo Collective
Red Clover Tattoo Collective is a 50 % Native owned and 100 % queer owned tattoo and arts collective located on Willy Street in Madison. Together, the collective members (each of whom are highlighted below) focus on community care, mutual aid and providing a space for people to engage in the healing practice of tattooing.
1) Briefly describe each of your chosen art forms and/or artistic process.
“Tattooing is a collaborative process between myself and my clients; myself being the conduit to bring their ideas into a visual form that will adorn their skin through the rest of their life’s journey. Unlike other visual art forms I do, tattooing doesn’t happen in solitude but can only exist in community with others. I started my art career as a jeweler and a metalsmith, creating works that also adorn bodies but were made entirely in my own space. To keep a personal practice outside of tattooing, I still create art that falls under the category of adornment and craft (costumes, clothing and decorative arts). But these pieces are often solely for my own body or created as gifts for others.” —Ari
“I am an illustrator, comic artist, and tattooist. I make ledger art as well, which is a traditional Plains style of storytelling art drawn over antique ledger paper that has already been used and written on. I like to mix and match traditional and contemporary practices. I incorporate the style of ledger art into my tattoos; and recently printed a design I made digitally onto 90+ year old schematics for the Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment plant using a risograph printer in a sort of contemporary printed ledger art as well. To me, storytelling through art is inherently collaborative, which is why I'm drawn to comics and tattoos. I love the chance to work with another person to give their story form.” —Ned
“My chosen art form(s) are primarily 2D art including: tattoos, digital illustration and painting as well as charcoal portraits/figures and dabbling in watercolor painting. My artistic process is so malleable; I feel like each piece develops its own process in collaboration with what each client is looking for, specifically in regards to tattoo art (which is what I spend the majority of my creation time doing). I’m someone who appreciates a prompt or framework to design within. I enjoy the challenge of combining seemingly disparate ideas into a cohesive vision and relish a client whose vision is specific because it means I get to problem solve and translate until it's what the client has been looking for. It starts with brainstorming and me asking as many questions as I can think of in advance, I’ll usually jot out notes; make sketches; or map out the area on the body that we’re working with or draw directly onto the skin to get an idea of fit. From there I set the concept aside until closer to the date of tattoo, then I’ll sit down, revisit my notes and begin the drawing process. I have a rough under-drawing as well as references laid out. Usually the design goes through 2-3 reworks until it’s ready for the client to see. Based on how they feel, I may re-draw that design or tweak things a couple more times before proceeding to size, stencil, place on the body and tattoo! Often the tattoo is complete in one sitting. However, clients do sometimes have to return for multiple sessions to finish depending on size.” —Bear
“Tattooing, for me, is an intimate collaboration of concept and vision. The process starts with a consult: a chance to talk out a design in real time, even sketch it on someone’s body, so we both have an idea of what’s to come. I work very traditionally, so each piece then gets hours of attention and physical layers of tracing paper as I draft and rework the drawing (often up to three or four times) before I feel confident in the final result. When the session itself rolls around my clients, I will take time and care in our placement by being preesent in this liminal place. For me, it’s deliciously new and comfortingly familiar every time. I think that’s why I keep coming back. No two tattoos are ever the same. Every day is a game and a chance to try my skills on a fresh and engaging challenge!” —Mar
2) What are you, as individuals and as a collective, manifesting in terms of creative goals for this year?
“This year, I'd like to spend more time working on personal projects. I have a pet comic project I've been working on for a year so I'd really like to see it come to fruition of some kind as well as a visual novel in progress I need to sit down and jam out. I do a lot of community-based artwork and I don't see that changing. But I'd like to add my personal projects back into the mix!” —Ned
“Personally I am very excited about our expanded ability to sink into our community. We’re hoping to open the doors up for more small events, like figure drawing and craft nights, plus to collaborate with other shops for fundraisers and skill shares. I’m particularly excited for our apprentices to shine this year, and hope we can bring in more guest artists to expand access for them (and our clients) to diverse skillsets and expertise!”—Mar
“As an individual, I am manifesting more collaboration and fundraising for mutual aid. It really fills me up to give something back to the community through doing what I’ve spent my whole life doing: art! I feel that the collective is in a similar place by desiring to bring people together through events and sharing art collaboratively as a form of community care.”—Bear
“Individually I’m looking to find a better balance between the work of tattooing and taking care of myself both physically and mentally. Allowing myself more rest and time with each new project to bring more of my whole self into every piece.” —Ari
3) Are there any cities and/or regions you think that Madison/Dane County could do a better job of emulating in terms of professional opportunities for artists?
“Ashville, North Carolina! In addition to supporting a wide variety (and sometimes very niche) performing arts, museums, and festivals, their arts district supports studios for working artists and collaboration spaces. Much like our own Communication in Madison (if Communication were seen as the jewel it is and was well-funded by the city).” —Mar
“Minneapolis and St Paul, I think, set the standard in the Midwest. So much public art, as well as many arts spaces and a lot of financial support.” —Ned
4) Share 2 to 3 exhibitions, concerts, books, spoken word events and/or films you're hoping to check out this winter or spring.
“I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the third book of Tasha Suri’s “The Burning Kingdoms” Trilogy (will be released soon). However the second just came out last year, so I have a feeling that I’ll be waiting a while to get my paws on that. Recently a friend recommended “Love After the End,” which is an Indigenous Queer/2S speculative fiction anthology. I’m definitely going to be giving that a read before spring comes.” —Bear
“I have a good stack of comics I’m hoping to find more time to read as well as working my way through “Could this be magic?: tattooing as liberation work” by Tamara Santibanez with everyone at Red Clover. I also plan on attending and performing at more circus and burlesque shows in town and hopefully elsewhere.” —Ari
BIOS:
Ari/ZZ (They/He) is a white, trans and autistic tattoo artist who focuses on fineline illustrative works in black and gray or soft colors. He draws inspiration from manga and anime, botanical illustrations, mythology, art history, queer sexuality and the human form. They are a firm believer in tattooing as a form of body reclamation and healing from the trauma carried in our bodies. He strives to create a welcoming and consent driven environment for all their clients. When not tattooing, you can find them reading comics, flipping upside down on their Lyra and hanging out with their cats.
Bear is a white non-binary ritual tattoo artist and integration guide. They have a passion for collaboration and holding space for clients to engage in deep healing work. They love to create illustrative, art nouveau and fine line minimalist tattoos in a range of motifs including figures, botanicals, geometry, queer and pop culture references, kink and sex-positivity, as well as occult and esoteric imagery. Bear believes tattooing is a rich and complex practice that culminates in telling the life story, marking points in time and wearing them as a visible reminder of who we are, where we’ve been, and what our hopes and dreams for the future may be. Outside of the shop Bear spends a lot of time hanging out with their cats, tending to plants, ethically foraging, and studying the mysteries of this wild world we live in.
Mar (they/he) is a white, queer and mad autistic artist. They strive to engage with tattooing as a consensual, trauma-informed practice that centers collaboration and the client experience, making art inspired by vintage illustrations, woodcuts, naturalist watercolors, pattern-making, and his clients. They love old maps; indulgent fantasy novels; savory pastries; and are a bit of a luddite. While Mar contends with dissociation and trying mental health daily, their relationships and intentionality help ground them, and they’re deeply grateful for the home they’ve found in their friends.
Nipinet/Ned (they/them) is a Michif, Anishinaabe & white mixed tattooer. They are a descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation who grew up just outside the Twin Cities in Minnesota; studied linguistics at Marquette University in Milwaukee; and has lived in Madison for the last six years. They like bold colors and bold linework, woodcuts, Ojibwe and Michif floral designs, horror, anime and ledger art. Their tattooing practice is focused on connection and reclamation of culture and identity, especially for the Native community, and their other artwork deals with similar themes. When not tattooing, Ned fundraises for mutual aid; road trips to the plains; makes comics, illustrations, and concept art; plays FFXIV and cosplays.