Monday, October 2, 2023
Tattoos News
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Tattoos News
  • Apprentice Love
  • Photo Insipiration
  • Convetions
  • More
    • Carrers
    • Charity
    • Music
    • Art
  • History of Tattoo
  • What is Tattoo
  • Home
  • Tattoos News
  • Apprentice Love
  • Photo Insipiration
  • Convetions
  • More
    • Carrers
    • Charity
    • Music
    • Art
  • History of Tattoo
  • What is Tattoo
No Result
View All Result
Tattoos News
No Result
View All Result
Home Tattoos News

Iñupiaq artist is part of a new generation that’s revitalizing Inuit tattooing

October 10, 2022
in Tattoos News
0
Iñupiaq artist is part of a new generation that’s revitalizing Inuit tattooing
3
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin

READ ALSO

Inspiring Arm Tattoo Designs Men Should Consider

Mythology Tattoos Surge in Popularity: Kiljun Chung Inks Greek Gods and Timeless Tales

[ad_1]

inuit, tattoo, inupiaq, artist, sarah whalen-lunn

Sarah Whalen–Lunn is seated in her Anchorage studio on Tuesday, October 4, 2022. (Emily Mesner/ADN).

The stencils of completed tattoos inside Sarah Whalen-Lunn’s home studio pay homage to the hundreds of intimate and healing sessions she’s had at her home since becoming a tattoo artist about six years ago.

A hand drawn pair of wolves is pinned next to a raised fist with “solidarity” written underneath. You will also find cutouts for a polar bear and a cluster of berries nearby.

Traditionally, the imagery-based tattoos were made by Whalen-Lunn, an Anchorage based Iñupiaq artist.

Whalen-Lunn’s ability to give tattoos helped her connect to her culture as well as those within her community. Her first tattoo was on her face.

Now she guesses that this number could be in the hundreds.

Tattooing, Whalen-Lunn said, is a “tradition that we had for thousands of years, before this tiny little blip of colonization and religion and missionaries, and now we can take it back.”

A statement of identity

Whalen-Lunn is part of a new generation of Indigenous tattoo artists bringing new life to the techniques practiced in Alaska for thousands of years by Iñupiat and Yup’ik women. In Alaska, Christian missionaries arrived in 19th- and 20th centuries. They banned tattooing among other cultural practices.

There are two types of Inuit tattooing: hand-poke or skin-stitching. Hand-poke uses a needle to poke ink into skin whereas with skin-stitching, which is less common now, the tattooist uses a needle to sew into the skin with thread dipped in ink, according to the Anchorage Museum’s exhibition page on “Identifying Marks: Tattoos and Expression”.

The museum exhibition was part of Tupik Mi –– a film and Inuit tattoo revitalization project that Anchorage’s Holly Mititquq Nordlum Incorporated around 2016.

Tattooing used to be done by women in the Circumpolar Nord.

Traditional markings –– including tavluġun (chin tattoo), sassuma aana (Sea mother tattoos are on the fingers). iri You can see the tattoos from the corner of your eyes. siqñiq (forehead tattoo, also meaning “sun,”) –– are extremely personal and are often used as an expression of cultural and individual identity, Whalen-Lunn said.

“The whole process is different,” she said of Inuit tattooing, compared to western tattooing. “It’s quieter, it’s more patient. It is not necessarily about the aesthetic of how it looks, but it’s about the intention in it.”

Whalen-Lunn stated that she builds hand pokes for each recipient, and ensures they are done with intention.

Resurrection

Whalen-Lunn was one of a handful of artists selected to participate in the Inuit tattoo revitalization project through the Anchorage Museum’s Urban Intervention Series of the Polar Lab program. Nordlum was originally from Kotzebue and Maya Sialuk Jacobsen (Greenland) led the program. Ultraviolence Tattoo owner Jake Scribner was the cohort’s Western tattoo mentor.

”At the time I had no idea that our people had tattoos, like no clue,” Whalen-Lunn said.

It was during the 2016 training that Whalen-Lunn first heard Iñupiaq being spoken.

Her mother, Irene “Bumba” Hayes, was taken out of Unalakleet at a very young age, she said, which resulted in Whalen-Lunn’s acute disconnect from her culture.

“There’s been such a resurgence in indigenous art and indigenous pride and you see it in all aspects,” she said. “(You see it in) language, you see it in food, you see it in art, you see it everywhere. It’s like coming back home. People are looking for ways to come back home.”

inuit, tattoo, inupiaq, artist, sarah whalen-lunnTattoo stencils are pinned to the wall above a tattoo bench in artist Sarah Whalen-Lunn’s studio at her home in Anchorage on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. A photograph of Whalen-Lunn’s mother and grandmother rest above the stencils and are surrounded by artwork, including some that were gifted by clients and Alaska Native artists.(Emily Mesner/ ADN).

Whalen-Lunn began traveling to Alaska’s northern villages to tattoo after she said received a Rasmuson Foundation grant in 2018 –– the first tattooer awarded such a grant.

Through a National Endowment for the Arts grant, she and her 16-year-old child, Bowie, visited St. Paul Island this past August and Whalen-Lunn tattooed residents for two weeks –– her first work trip since the pandemic.

Bowie took the opportunity to check out tattooing and was part of this trip.

“We did quite a few things where they got to experience truly what it’s like to be one Native with one other Native doing this work that hadn’t been done in, you know, over 100 years for us,” Whalen-Lunn said. “Just seeing that excitement and that kind of hunger that (Bowie has) for being involved in this traditional tattooing. It’s just pretty incredible.”

Whalen-Lunn continues to hope that Inuit tattooing will become more commonplace and part of daily life for the younger generation.

She uses her own tradition markings to help her to understand herself better and to show her gratitude to her community.

“They steel you up in who you are, they kind of force you to walk a little bit taller,” she said. “They force you to try and do a little bit better. They’re constant reminders of your ancestors, of who’s walking with you. So, they change you.”
[ad_2]

Source link

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • WhatsApp
  • Telegram

Like this:

Like Loading...
Previous Post

Oscar Castano – Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models

Next Post

Why Neck Tattoos Are On the Rise Among the Fashion Set

Related Posts

Inspiring Arm Tattoo Designs Men Should Consider
Tattoos News

Inspiring Arm Tattoo Designs Men Should Consider

September 4, 2023
9
Mythology Tattoos Surge in Popularity: Kiljun Chung Inks Greek Gods and Timeless Tales
Tattoos News

Mythology Tattoos Surge in Popularity: Kiljun Chung Inks Greek Gods and Timeless Tales

September 3, 2023
21
Anthony Brown Joins Steelers Practice Squad with Literal Chip Tattoo on Shoulder
Tattoos News

Anthony Brown Joins Steelers Practice Squad with Literal Chip Tattoo on Shoulder

September 2, 2023
3
Britney Spears Unveils New Snake Tattoo Amid Divorce Drama
Tattoos News

Britney Spears Unveils New Snake Tattoo Amid Divorce Drama

September 2, 2023
7
Ariana Grande Enthralls Fans with Her Tattooed Heart Designs
Tattoos News

Ariana Grande Enthralls Fans with Her Tattooed Heart Designs

August 30, 2023
3
Unveiling The Mystique of Midlife Tattoos Why Impulsive Decisions Lead to No Regrets
Tattoos News

Unveiling The Mystique of Midlife Tattoos Why Impulsive Decisions Lead to No Regrets

August 29, 2023
2
Next Post
Why Neck Tattoos Are On the Rise Among the Fashion Set

Why Neck Tattoos Are On the Rise Among the Fashion Set

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hailey Bieber’s Tattoo Journey: From Justin Tribute to Kendall Jenner Match

Hailey Bieber’s Tattoo Journey: From Justin Tribute to Kendall Jenner Match

September 4, 2023
Britney Spears Unveils Fresh Tattoos Post Breakup with Sam Asghari

Britney Spears Unveils Fresh Tattoos Post Breakup with Sam Asghari

September 4, 2023
Inspiring Arm Tattoo Designs Men Should Consider

Inspiring Arm Tattoo Designs Men Should Consider

September 4, 2023

Categories

  • Apprentice Love
  • Art
  • Carrers
  • Charity
  • Convetions
  • Music
  • Photo Insipiration
  • Relatively
  • Tattoos & History
  • Tattoos News
  • Uncategorized

Contact Us

  • Home
  • About US
  • Contact US
  • TERMS AND CONDITIONS
  • Privacy & Policy
  • DMCA
  • Disclaimer

© 2023 Tattoo News
Tattoos News is not responsible for the content of external sites.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Tattoos News
  • Apprentice Love
  • Photo Insipiration
  • Convetions
  • More
    • Carrers
    • Charity
    • Music
    • Art
  • History of Tattoo
  • What is Tattoo

© 2023 Tattoo News
Tattoos News is not responsible for the content of external sites.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
%d bloggers like this: