A year and a half ago, I visited Emily Kempf’s home in Pilsen to interview her about her then-active cassette label Cool Girl Tapes. The walls of her living room were papered with black-and-white ink drawings of goblets and flowers and four-eyed women—illustrations that looked like they belonged in a deck of tarot cards. Kempf explained that the sketches decorating her walls were tattoo designs—she had begun using her home as a makeshift tattoo studio, hand-poking her art onto friends and a small client base familiar with her work through Instagram.
All three founders share a belief that tattooing their art onto another individual is a powerful act, and one they should honor. “I’m definitely really in to the energy exchange between me and the person I’m tattooing,” says Kempf. “It’s not a weird transaction, and I don’t take it for granted.”
Opening party Sun 10/21, 7-11 PM, 2409 W. Hirsch, timebeingtattoo.com, free
