OFM ART: Bicons Only! – An Interview w/ Tiny Tattooer
Bicon Alert! This bi icon is transforming traditional inspired tattoos into her own unique and vibrant style. Chanel DesArden is more commonly known to her followers and clients as Tiny Tattooer. Chanel not only decorates human flesh, but creates custom artwork and merchandise all radiating major bisexual energy!
How long have you been tattooing, and how did you get started?
I will be celebrating six years of tattooing in December, which is crazy, but I started very young. I always knew that I wanted to be a tattooer. When I was a teenager, I asked to have an apprenticeship. I was 13, in a band, and one of my bandmates’ dad was a tattooer at a shop that I would eventually get an apprenticeship at years later. I tried so many places in my area as a teenager. I’d get: “You’re too young,” or “We already have an apprentice.” Finally when I was 18, I took a look at my portfolio, and said I’m ready to go back to that shop and get an apprenticeship. And sure enough, I did, and I’ve been tattooing ever since.
Where did the name “Tiny Tattooer” come from?
I was always Pendleton online before Tiny Tattooer, like Pendleton Ward, the creator of Adventure Time. So, I thought maybe I should change this. One day I was going through options, trying to find whatever sounds good. I thought of “Tiny Tattooer,” and I was like, “That sounds nice; we’ll just go with that.” It fits because I’m also very small. I’m 4’11; I’m tiny, and I literally shop in the kids section for shoes and all that annoying stuff that tiny people say.
How would you describe your personal tattooing style?
It definitely derives from traditional tattooing; technically, it’s called neotraditional. I’ve been trying to break the barriers that I’ve always been taught in the tattoo world to create things on skin that are more authentic to what I do on paper, what I paint, those are the things that really come from the heart.
How do you think being a queer reflects in your work?
Interacting with the world around me through the lens of a bisexual woman I think reflects in everything I create, everything I do really. It’s something I haven’t put much thought into until now, actually, because it’s ever-present. I was 11 years old when I first came out. At the time, kids could be very cruel about it, but it somehow still felt so liberating!
Some of my family were accepting; others were very religious and would go on to conveniently forget over the years and say horrible things about being gay in front of me. Being flamboyant, androgynous, openly queer, or even something as simple as listening to Lady Gaga would make some of them squirm. As a kids, that just makes you want to do more of those things!
For me, it always fueled me to stand firm in who I am. There have been moments of self-hatred and trying to be someone I wasn’t, which is unfortunately so common among LGBTQ+ youth. But, in spite of those moments, I’ve mostly done things my way; knowing who I am. I think the way that reflects in my art most is with my devil ladies, I think for very obvious reasons.
What is the influence behind your signature heart face?
It’s a super old concept. A lot of the inspiration comes from traditional tattooing and Bert Grimm.
He was the first one to do the crying heart and people have made millions of different iterations of that concept. There’s so much to do with it, so much character that you can portray in a face, and I just love heart shapes, so it became my thing by accident.
What inspired you to expand your business and start selling custom artwork and merchandise?
It was a few months before the pandemic, and I was feeling stagnant. I felt as if I was wasting my potential to expand as an artist only drawing flash. I started painting again, it was always something I could totally get lost in and never got sick of. Mark Ryden is somebody that really inspires me and he always paints on wood. I decided to copy him a little and paint on some wood.I painted a Sacred Heart that ended up going sort of viral on Twitter. I was like, Whoa, I wasn’t expecting that kind of response. I ended up opening my commissions.
I started selling prints, making earrings, painting boxes, and gluing teeth on to shit all sorts of shit. Then I started painting bags because of this amazing artist who’s name is “All Drawn.” She paints on bags and is incredible at it. Her work feels very 60s, has this mystique to it with a really cool color palette.
So, I decided to take that and the techniques I’d already been doing on boxes and earrings. Gluing pearls, lace, and spikes on to things, and I put it all together for some real handbags. It started with wooden bags that you find at Michaels, then I started hunting for faux leather bags. My influences for overall style are a few different artists. I really enjoy artists who have a classical feel to them, but they’re still in a pop surrealist realm.
If you’re absolutely obsessing over Chanel like we are, head over to her insta @Tiny.Tattoer below!
View this post on Instagram
What's Your Reaction?
