In 2018 it’s almost impossible to know someone without a tattoo. It seems everyone has at least one and with each one there’s most likely a story they tell about it. This is exactly what Zoey Duong, a Baltimore Hand Poke Tattooist, wants people to be able to do with the art she pokes on them: tell stories and enable them to better express themselves. “Maybe I don’t know that story, or maybe there isn’t one and that’s fine, but if my work allows someone to share a memory that’s important to them, or just simply express themselves, I think that’s a really special thing.” What is a hand poked tattoo? Quite simply it’s a tattoo given by hand, using the needles from a tattoo gun. This machine free tattoo method is completely blowing up right now. If you’ve never seen a hand poked tattoo, the MICA grad does some incredible work that will give any machine tattoo artist a run for their money.
Zoey has always been very gifted in terms of art. As a young girl and well into high school, she was always doodling and sketching. She continued to grow her creative side in high school by taking a film photography course and in her junior and senior years, she was taking art courses full time at a local community college. While there, she also founded an art club. “Taking these courses really changed how far I thought I could go with art.” Before she knew it, she was enrolled at MICA, and in 2016 graduated with a General Fine Arts degree.
Tattoos have always been a love of Zoey’s, however, growing up it was a big no-no. “They weren’t allowed. No piercings, no cutting or dyeing your hair weird and I think that probably made me want one even more.” While rebelling may have been the inspiration for her first tattoo, a self-poked one of course, today Zoey finds a lot of inspiration from the one-on-one interactions she gets with tattooing people and says it’s very enjoyable for her. “What I really like about art is telling a story and I really like connecting with people… The experience of getting a tattoo should be amazing and memorable so for me, that’s just as important as the tattoo that’s going to be on you forever.”
Zoey decided to start tattooing after a road trip she and her boyfriend took to Utah. “We were on the road for like 25 hours, just talking about life and what we were doing. People had been telling me that I was really talented and that I should go for it, so I decided to just see what happens.” When she returned to Baltimore, she made a flash sheet posted it to Instagram, and was busy for seven straight days doing tattoos. First, she mainly poked friends but then with word of mouth, recognition for her detailed work and the growing popularity for this underground style, she quickly began booking new clients and has had many repeat customers over the past couple years.
However, hand poke tattooing has not always been the easiest underground art to pursue. Like other artists, anxiety about the success of her art is something Zoey has to work to overcome. Worries about people hating her work and running out of clients are constant concerns. Additionally, the challenge of being underground and not directly connected to the traditional tattoo community has been difficult, but Zoey continues to strive forward giving people memorable pieces of handmade art they can have with them forever. She says, “I just started not caring too much about what could stop me. I push through it because I want it. I need to create. It’s here, it’s in me and I have to pursue it.” Pushing through these challenges continue to bring Zoey success. You can easily tell with her work that she has an incredible attention to detail and a style that many people love. Her lines are sharp, her gradients are impressive and her realism is stunning.
So will she ever pick up a gun? Zoey laughs and tells me “I’ve always said I would never pick up the gun but I know I will. I just need to find the right artist I can apprentice with. As much as I love hand poking I also really believe I’ll make some awesome stuff with a gun one day.”
Zoey Duong’s advice for other hand pokers or any artist in general:
“If you want something, stop thinking about it and just do it. Try it, but try it really hard. Work seven days a week if you have to. Go for it!”
“Be yourself and be very honestly yourself. Don’t fake for anything, don’t try to please anyone, good art comes from your soul, you can only get to that if you are 100% yourself.”
“Take no shit! Take no shit from yourself either. Anxiety sucks and marketing yourself is hard and it can kill you to hear the things other people may say about your work. Believe and trust in yourself and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Take no ones shit!”
To see more of Zoeys work, visit her Instagram here. If you’d like to see some of her other art you can check out Pipe Dreamz where some of her work will be on display until April 23rd.
All images and content created by Nick Hanyok Imaging.
