Ming.
Mixed Media | Tattoo Artist
Tattoo-ing?
“One of the first things I think sparked my interest in tattooing was the need for representation, tattooing in communities of color.
I think due to cultural erasure such as colonization and different forms of globalization, this indigenous practice that was used to protect people and used as a form of prayer was lost and it became a space that was totally dominated by people who don’t look like us, but is a practice that was created by us.
So I think that the first motivation behind tattooing was to bring that invention back to these spaces for people of color so that we can have a safe space to express ourselves in a way that the dominant culture doesn’t abide by”
How would you describe your artist style?
“In technical terms, I would say that my art style is definitely a bridge between expressionist art and the sacred art because of the sort of motifs that i use. but, I think that I’m more-so focused on authentic expression when it comes to my art.
As of right now, my art is really centered around the experience of black women and women of color and the sort of inner divinity we have but is not really the forefront of any praise as far as society goes. If you look a lot in museums, and sort of scared art and things like that, you’ll see the motifs and the characters to be pale-skinned and to be European and to be white, but I feel like those are spaces in which black women also deserve a space so that’s normally what I paint the most of.”
“I think I’ve refined myself over the years. Prior to me getting into art in a more serious way, I was definitely more expressionist, I was definitely a lot more flashy. I used bright bold colors, I used lots of thick lines.. it was almost abstract, there wasn’t a lot of technicality to it.
As of now, I think my art has become a little bit more defined and refined but the message and the intention is still all the same.”
“I would define myself as a student…
The good thing about art is there’s never really a ceiling you can hit with it. There’s always more things that you can learn and especially when you're doing art for a specific intention. Its something that throughout your journey you’re never gonna reach the top. You could reach the top as far as money goes, accolades and things like that. But when it comes to the matters of why creators actually create, its an everlasting journey?
I really kept the mindset of being a student and not letting my head get too big, not assuming I’m ever really too good for a specific lesson, and…
keeping myself open to the possibility of learning as much as I can.”
Legacy-
I want black people to know that it is okay to express ourselves in the way that we choose to express ourselves. I feel like all too often, black people are censored, we’re put into boxes, we’re defined and just watered down in some sort of way.. and its almost ironic because when it comes to art, the people who push the envelope the most and the people who are the most unforgiving are usually the most successful. I feel like those spaces for black people are not as respected as they should.
So if that’s anything that anybody can take from the sort of art that I make is that, art has permission to be expressed.”
Watch full interview here—-
connect with Rachel (Ming.) on Instagram @mingsgolden