Queerness, Aesthetics, and the Pressure to Be 'On Brand'

Honestly just some thoughts on being a queer artist and how that shapes what people expect from your work.

Being a visibly queer artist in the tattoo world is a little wild because you get this mix of amazing support and weird assumptions. A lot of clients find me specifically because they want a safer space and I love that. It matters to me. It's literally part of why I do this.

But then there's this unspoken thing where people expect you to look or perform queerness in very specific ways, especially online. There's like this narrow window of what's seen as "correct" queer aesthetics and people will try to squeeze you into it so fast.

When I post something soft or sparkly everyone assumes I'm doing one vibe. Post something darker and suddenly it's a whole different performance thing. But I am both and I like both? Why do I have to pick one?

Especially being femme and nonbinary there's this pressure to stay consistent in a way that's more about what looks good than what feels real. When you grow or change your style sometimes people just...stop responding. Not because the work isn’t good but because it doesn't match what they expected from you.

And look this isn't me calling anyone out or whatever. It's just something I've been thinking about because when queerness becomes part of your professional thing people forget it's also just your actual life. Not a marketing campaign. Not just vibes. Not something that stays exactly the same forever.

I'm proud to be a queer artist and I also want room to grow and experiment and make tattoos that are political or silly or dark or delicate or literally none of those things.

Queer art isn't one look. It's not one story. It doesn't have to fit in one box and honestly it shouldn't have to.