TATTED BY VENUS INTERVIEW & ‘LOVESICK’ EVENT RECAP

Venus (they/she) is an LA-based queer tattoo artist that specializes in one of a kind designs with florals, hearts, and eyes, and often does freehand abstract pieces that focus on the flow of the client’s body. They’ve also done murals all over California, and express themselves through other art forms such as painting and drawing. 

Lonely Stoner joined Venus this Valentine’s weekend at an art and tattoo event “Lovesick” to connect and create with the community. We made Lonely Stoner shirts & tanks, made valentines for our lovers, and colored on coloring book pages sourced from our community!

We wanted to spotlight Venus’s artistic career so we asked them some questions to get to know their creative process & goals a bit more: 

What is one thing you’ve been focused on lately in your creative journey?

One thing I’ve really been focused on lately is developing my own unique artistic voice. Defining my style, what makes my art different from anyone else’s - what makes my art mine, what makes my art unique. What is my message? What am I trying to share? What do I have that’s worth sharing? What do I have that other people are going to see and they're gonna feel that they are heard, they're gonna feel seen, they're gonna be able to relate to that. 

Art should make you feel something. Art is vulnerable. Another thing I've been thinking about lately is how to be really honest in my art. Sometimes it's not all about this technique but it's like are you being honest? Are you allowing yourself to be vulnerable? I think so much about good art is that it kind of requires a certain level of vulnerability and it can be difficult for us to really open up and share that. To put everything out there for strangers to see and allow them to make judgments on it. But I guess that’s what it's all about. If it’s not honest, if it’s not vulnerable what’s the fucking point?

What is a project you’re currently working on?

I'm working on a piece right now inspired by the feeling of envy. It's basically a depiction of a supervillain named Envy who's personified as the green-eyed monster. I think what's special about this piece is that we all experience negative emotions. Everyone experiences envy, everyone experiences insecurity, everybody sees something that someone else has that they wish they had. I think we're also so quick to deny that. We want to seem above this shit that we feel. We want to seem better and more healed than this but in reality, to suppress these emotions and not look them head on is a disservice. There's actually so much to learn from these feelings. 

Is envy something that motivates and inspires you?

When I catch myself feeling envy or I find someone has something that I want, instead of just being like ‘oh jealous, that could never be me’, it's more like ‘oh - i'm noticing a sensation in my body that is showing me that I'm envious right now’. What is this trying to tell me? Is this actually positive? I really think that I appreciate these moments because it shows me what I want. I'm seeing what other people have and it's helping me narrowly define my vision of what I want for myself. 

So say I see an artist in a show and I'm like damn I wish I was on that lineup. I should've worked harder, grinded smaller and I could have been on that lineup too. But actually, I should be looking at it as oh wait - this is showing me what I want. This is showing me the type of things I want to be involved in. This is showing me what level of work I'm striving to achieve. I think that these feelings, these darker negative emotions are often telling us deeper things about ourselves. That if we’re willing to look inward and practice that self-awareness there's a lesson in it and I think that's what my art is more about lately, it's kind of dissecting these lessons from these experiences and these feelings that maybe aren't so love and light. 

What long term goals do you have for your creative career?

In a more tangible sense, I think a lot of my goals would be to build community, connect with other artists, travel around the world and learn from other artists and craftsmen, and just exchange art. I think that's the beauty of art - it's universal, it brings people together. I think that's so beautiful, the ability to connect with people through art even if it seems like you have nothing in common. Art can really bring people together and that's something that is beyond just the creation of it. I think that's one of the most beautiful things about it. 

There's so much to learn out there, there's so many talented artists, there's so many people who have just been at this stuff for years. There's so much wisdom and I really personally am seeking that. I want to hear other people, I want to hear their stories, I want to hear how they came to be just so I can soak that up. I still feel like a student, yanno school of life.

Learning, going around the world, sharing, connecting with people - that's what it's all about. I don't really have a material end game for this because I'm realizing the longer I'm at this that I'm in this for the long haul. There's no one thing I'm going to accomplish that's like okay - now I did it, I'm done. Like, I'm going to be doing this the rest of my life - this is who I am. Creation, making art, sharing that art, connecting with other artists. There is no alternative. So yeah — I'm in it for the long haul y’know? My goal is to just keep going, see where it takes me, define my vision, define my goals, define the things I want and attain them as they come. 

I think creation is an act of love, it's a connection with the divine, it is honoring your truth, it is embracing gifts. I mean I feel like we would all be artsits if we just practiced and if we allowed our selves that space to fuck up and to learn. That's what art is about - experimentation, learning, failing, getting rejected, fucking up, doing it again, winning. That's the beauty of it. It's not a typical path, it's like you're making your own path. You're navigating that hoe. *hits the blunt*

How did your tattoo career begin? 

People always ask me how I started and it's such a funny thing. I didn't learn to tattoo in a traditional route & I'm not necessarily encouraging people to do it the way I did it but I just got a tattoo machine on amazon. And mind you I had been drawing and practicing art for years, pretty much as long as I can remember. I didn't have the guidance that you would typically have in an apprenticeship, so it involved a lot of trust from my community, trust from my friends and family to kind of just offer themselves as a canvas to me, for better or worse. But I feel like ultimately it's a path that chose me.

I didn't know when I first got into it that I was going to become a tattoo artist. I didn't know that it was going to become my life like this. I kind of just viewed it as another medium to see what's up with - like getting a new pack of watercolors or something - but I mean once it started, it kind of just blossomed into this whole thing. I had no idea it was gonna be like this. It was almost an accident. I swear I always tell people that it chose me, never did I really make the decision like ‘oh I’m just gonna do this’ - it just happened.”

How do you see your tattoo style developing over the next few years?

Of course this is all subject to change as I learn and grow but right now I'm focused on freehand pieces. Pieces that I feel like follow the form of the body and compliment that form - which is different for everyone. I think that’s something that's so beautiful about tattooing is it's not on a piece of paper, it's not on a canvas. Nobody is symmetrical, it’s a 3D living human being. So I think to make art with the benefits of this specific medium, you're able to create things that are just unlike anything else, something that really again just fits that person specifically. It's like a custom wearable thing for them specifically. I want to refine my skills with freehanding and my skills with larger pieces that really follow the shape & flow of the body and compliment each specific person's anatomy. 

In addition to that, developing my own unique style, my own visual language. I want you to be able to see something & immediately go ‘oh venus did that one’, like ‘that's venus - duh’ so kind of just developing that has been a journey ongoing. I think it lasts forever - I'm pretty sure there's no end game on that. Just being consistent and practicing daily and trying new things and allowing myself to experiment.

What is something you think all creatives should do to help them in their artistic journey?

I think it's so important to allow ourselves to make things that are just ugly. That we hate. I make shit all the time that I'm like ‘this is not cute’ but hey, even in that, there's so much to learn. You can look at that and be like ‘okay what about this do I not find successful? What about this do I think could be developed and changed so that I do like it and I am proud of this piece and I do feel like it reflects my ability?’ I think just having that consistent practice is more important than anything. Again it's really about the journey not the final products, so if you can just enjoy the dance of it all, if you can enjoy the creation of it all without focusing so much on the final product - I think that's something that has allowed me to grow as an artist. Consistent practice with no expectations, just allowing that freedom and flow.

I feel like creation offers us this opportunity to connect with our inner child. I think as human beings it's innate that we want to create things, that we want to make the world more beautiful and better in a way that we conceive as better. That's natural and I think unfortunately a lot of us suppress that. It sucks that not everyone feels like they're able to create and express themselves when I think it's such an important part of being a human being. Some of the oldest artifacts in the world are art, like people were painting on caves, this shit is humanity. It's crazy. Everybody can do this, everybody has this in them, and like, I think so many people have this fear that it’s gonna come out ‘ugly’ or be like ‘i'm bad at it’ - like what does that even mean? Did you have fun? Did you learn something? Did you express yourself? Did you communicate something? That's what's important - not how this shit looks - it's really about the act of creation that I think is important.”

What advice do you have for someone who wants to start tattooing?

If I had to give advice to anyone looking to start tattooing, I mean it's different for everyone. If you think that you're gonna be more capable of learning the craft in a more traditional setting in an apprenticeship, I encourage you to do that, to take the steps you gotta do to do that. For me personally, for anyone, I think it would be really helpful to stay consistent, draw everyday. For me, drawing on paper has been helpful as opposed to the ipad. Look at other tattooers, talk about it, determine what you think is successful about these works, develop your own style. Be consistent and have fun with it. 

I used to find myself being like ‘oh I don't know what to draw. I don't have anything to draw.’ I went through a whole period of a creative block for like a year that was just so dark. I think consistency is key in staying in a creative zone. It's not about always having a specific idea in mind but rather getting into a consistent practice of ‘I’m gonna sit down & draw. I don't necessarily have an expectation of how that's going to turn out but I know I'm going to sit down and draw - maybe I'll learn something, maybe I'll make something I love, maybe I'll make something I hate - but I'm gonna sit down and do it’. And just getting into the habit of doing it consistently is what's kept me on track and what's allowed me to see the most progress. So yeah that's one of my biggest suggestions to any developing artists.

You can find Venus on instagram and tiktok @tattedbyvenus and submit a booking request form for your next tattoo here.