Interview with Alex Adams
by Sarah De Schiffert

Alex Adams is currently Tattooing at Tattoos for the Individual, a studio she established with her husband Kurt Wiscombe in the early nineties. She is a tattooer, a painter, and now co-owner of the Skull and Bones Gallery, which opened in the summer of 2009. Her tireless dedication to tattooing and art is seen through her travel to conventions around the world and her non stop production both in and out of the studio and gallery.

Sarah: So you've been tattooing since the early 90's, but judging by your work, it seems you've been an artist a lot longer. How long have you been drawing or painting?

Alex: I've been drawing since childhood, as a child I would always like to draw what I would see outside, I liked nature and drawing trees and birds, my mother used to take me to see the animals at the zoo and I used to try to draw those things when I got home. Today I do alot of oil painting, I started oil painting in 2007.

Sarah: Are there any famous artists, tattooists or not, that have influenced you down the path of your career?

Alex: Well, I think the artists that inspire me the most are the great artists of the Renaissance period which would include Raphael and Leonardo DA Vinci, i'm also really into the works of Albrecht Dürur. The ones who inspire me the most in tattooing are Filip Leu, and the Leu family, Paul Booth and of course Kurt, and that's just to name a few but basically these three people have something in common, that is they are all prolific tattooers and painters as well.

Sarah: Looking at your artwork, I can see you have a very unique approach to your work. What inspires you to create such a style?

Alex: Well as for tattooing I think that the thing that inspires me the most which may influence my style are my clients. Essentially what they're interested in influences me directly and then the collaboration we create together for their tattoo I guess influences me.

Sarah: Lately you've been working in a style of pointillism tattooing can you tell us about how that came about?

Alex: I actually was working in pointillism years ago using ink on paper and I established a body of work just to show tattooers when I was trying to get into tattooing. Recently, I decided to try doing some tattoos in this style incidentally; Kurt and I were talking and I had some of the artwork that had been kicking around for a while in an old portfolio, I had seen other tattooers working in pointillism before but I had an idea to try and do something a little different with it by doing jewelry, decorative designs and animal portraiture. I rely on Kurt's feedback for things that I want to try and Kurt said "why not" which really surprised me, and so right away I was motivated and it just so happened that our assistant at the time was sitting nearby and she said well you can do one on me. So initially it was very experimental for me but since then I have done quite a few and it's something that I would like to do more of.

Sarah: What did your family and friends think about you getting into tattooing?

Alex: They were very supportive, friends and family were supportive. When we first opened the shop my sister Ava, actually worked as our assistant, she was in school herself and she worked with us for two years.

Sarah: What would you say is your favorite part of your job?

Alex: I like the creative process, in fact I like the whole thing, meeting with the client and establishing what it is they would like to get and working on the design aspect, its a unique experience each and every time.

Sarah: You and Kurt have your own unique style, yet your work co-exists beautifully. Do you find that you feed off each others creativity?

Alex: We absolutely feed off of each other in fact I think we both like the same ideas, yet our interpretation of these ideas are different. honestly i'm fascinated by Kurt's work, he's a prolific, open minded artist and he does things that I have never thought of. He encourages me to make the images happen, for example if he sees a sketch for a painting he will ask me when he's going to actually see the painting.

Sarah: When you're not tattooing or painting, what do you spend your free time doing? I hear you've always thought you'd make a great dressmaker, is that something you do on the side?

Alex: Well it seems like alot of my free time is spent doing art in fact I do alot of painting when i'm not tattooing. The costumes in my paintings are my designs inspired by art of the Renaissance, as far as making the dresses and costumes I am not a dressmaker however I will often design them on paper and sometimes I will actually piece costumes together using fabric, jewelry and lace to use as visual reference. I love creating the clothing and the jewelry for the people in my paintings.

Sarah: It's the 21st century and equality between men and women has gone a long way. However, what can you tell us about being such a successful female artist? Do you feel woman artists have it different than men in the tattoo industry?

Alex: I guess if you can define success as enjoying what you do for a living then yes I feel very successful. As a whole it's possible that women do have it somewhat different in the tattoo industry because some clients actually will request a woman or a man tattooer, my name is Alexandria but I go by Alex and once in a while a client will come in for a consultation and be surprised that I'm a woman. But it doesn't occur to me that i'm a female in this business even though people tell me its male dominated. I think it's the art that matters and the people who I consider my peers in tattooing, I believe, would have the same expectations of me that they would of themselves.

Sarah: The first time I saw you, you were the only female participating in the Art Fusion Experiment, how did you like collaborating with different artists? Was that your first time participating in Art Fusion?

Alex: You know it's interesting, I didn't even realize that I was the only female there until youmentioned it, which kind of touches on the previous question. I was just so blown away to be standing there painting with some great artists, I felt like a spongetaking taking in the whole experience, to see other artists at work, concentrating and letting the energy flow out of them as they paint is a mind boggling event to even see and to be a part of that is pretty amazing! That wasn't my first time doing art fusion, I have done it several times before, in fact I was one of many artists who participated in one of the biggest art fusion events, it was in San Francisco as part of the Tattoo the Earth tour.

Sarah: So you are currently in Winnipeg, living in an old Victorian, gothic style house. Do you find living in a house with such character and I'm sure history, inspires you as an artist?

Alex: Our house and the environment that we have created within it helps to coax the ideas out of me. We have brought alot of life and interest into our house with our curious objects and antiques and we have surrounded ourselves with things that inspire.

Sarah: What advice would you give to new artists, female or male, who are trying to make a name for themselves?

Alex: I think what I would say to anybody is just pursue it, pursue it sincerely with your passion and your drive. Find people that you admire and watch what they're doing. Hang on to your own ideas and try to create your own style always being open minded to new ideas.

Sarah: How has tattooing changed over the years since you've been tattooing?

Alex: When I first became interested in tattooing there was one tattoo magazine that came out twice a year and I took that magazine with me virtually everywhere, I did a few very small art exhibitions of my own artwork and somehow that tattoo magazine ended up in my portfolio and whenever I met somebody that I felt I could tell that I was interested in tattooing, I would pull this thing out and say "look at this", and we would kind of hide in a corner and check it out, that was then. So it's changed alot in terms of the popularity and accessibility. I came into tattooing when it was still this curious art form that very few people knew anything about and people didn't talk about it very much, if you wanted to get a tattoo it was probably something you didn't say too much about to too many people.

Sarah: You've been tattooing for quite a while, what is your your most memorable tattoo story?

Alex: Frankly they're all memorable in one way or another because they are all important to me. The most memorable tattoo stories for me alot of times, are the commemorative tattoos.

Sarah: Just basing this on a few photos that I've seen of you, you're not the typical, heavily tattooed artist you see out there these days. What's stopping you from full sleeve tattoos? How many tattoos do you have?

Alex: I have tattoos, I have been tattooed by Filip Leu and Paul Booth, one of my first tattoos was done by Harley Charlie who I believe is in Medicine Hat now, and Kurt's done one on me. I don't know that the amount of tattoos I have is what is important to me. My tattoos are very special and personal to me and they happened incidentally, a case of being at the right place at the right time. I don't feel compelled to be heavily tattooed, what I have right now is what i'm really happy with.

Sarah: I know that you and Kurt opened the Skull and Bones Gallery this past July in Winnipeg. What an undertaking it must be to not only have your careers in tattooing and painting, but now to step to the other side of the industry and operate a gallery, wearing the hats of directors, curators and artists. Do you find it was a natural evolution for you as part of the creative process, or do you want to branch off to dealing with other artists, and art to bring more culture to your own local art scene?

Alex: For years we had talked about how fun it would be to have a gallery, mainly as a place to house and display our own paintings. Painting is an important creative outlet for Kurt and I and a big part of what we do, so we decided to design a space that would not only serve as a place to display our work but also an area that would inspire us to continue to create. Today we are currently planning to do more installations of our work, In fact I'm working on three new paintings which I will have up in the gallery in the next few months. In the future we may open the gallery up to include from time to time other artists. I love having the gallery it's been a great experience so far, it's like a dream come true.

Editor's note: If you want to get hold of Alex for a Tattoo or to view some of her paintings you can contact Tattoos for the Individual at 204-889-3943

For instant updates of new tattoos.com content follow us on: twitter, facebook, myspace or our RSS feeds.