From her studio in Salem, a town well known to witchcraft enthusiasts, American tattoo artist Kelly Dotty talks about her colourful horrific world, inextricably blending the scary and the cute. She also talks frankly about her frailties and how art and creation can heal anxieties. The former illustrator, who became famous after appearing on the TV show 'Ink Master', advocates for the democratisation of the medium and for bringing new talent into a conservative environment that, she believes, has been too resistant to the idea of progress for too long.
What are the cultural references (cinema, comics, video games, etc.) that you grew up with?
I grew up as an only child and I’m shy as hell so I forged a strong and eternal relationship with my TV. I never liked video games though, because I wasn't very good at them so I found them threatening. I have a lifelong obsession with Cyndi Lauper, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Beetlejuice, John Hughes movies and Saturday Night Live. It’s entirely possible that I was introduced to some of these things too young but I’m pretty sure they now merge together in my soul to form what I can best describe as my life force.
At what point do these references become your graphic universe?
A lot of 80s and 90s tv and movies had to be creative with dynamic lighting and color choice due to effects limitations or budget restraints. Look at the creative problem solving in movies like Evil Dead or the mood manipulation in Twin Peaks. Being really thoughtful about visual intentions when it comes to making the viewer see what you want them to see is a great side effect of obsessively watching a television screen from 3 inches away like a little goblin.
Have you always drawn?
I’ve always drawn! Like I said, I was alone a lot as a kid, so toys aren’t really fun when there’s no one to play with. But I always lost hours to drawing. Up until he died, my Grampa had a pencil drawing I did on yellow legal paper of Scrooge McDuck and his nephews from Ducktales. The perspective on their little webbed feet is all out of whack. Just an atrocity."
How does the tattoo come into your life?
I was raised by a single mom and by my grandparents. Both my mom and my Grampa had tattoos, so I was always aware of them. I remember being so excited to get tattoos when I grew up. It was hard to get into the tattoo industry because I was shy and didn’t know anybody. But eventually I got an apprenticeship after the shop I was getting tattooed at saw my sketchbook. My mentor, Coniah, was an amazing teacher. After that I got to work in a bunch of incredible shops with people who were eager to learn and happy to teach. Honestly I’m really fortunate that I got to work with the people I have and now to have a shop with my best friends, Helheim Gallery, I’m pretty out of my mind with gratitude.
Is horror in colour more fun?
I love color theory and I love weird juxtapositions. So doing horror theme tattoos in pretty color schemes or grungy strange colors is a lot of fun because it feels unexpected but it kind of brings a personal touch to it. So it’s more unique for the person wearing it.
You have always liked horror?
Yes, but it affects me really deeply so I have to be careful watching it sometimes because I can get really obsessed with it and then it’s a whole big thing. I think that’s why it’s fun to work through those fears with art. Otherwise I have to sleep with the lights on and I start really strange uncomfortable conversations with people about exorcisms and ghosts and serial killers and it’s just not a great way to make first impressions apparently.
What are your favourite horror movies?
Recently I’ve been liking a lot of A24 stuff. Hereditary scared the hell out of me and I would die for Toni Collette. I really liked Fresh too! I feel like it combined a certain amount of humor with really scary concepts and it was fun but still deeply disturbing. As for the classics I have a weird relationship with The Exorcist. It’s probably the scariest movie I’ve ever seen because my family kept it from me and would always tell me how disturbing it was and how it was gonna mess me up if I ever watched it. So then I watched it and it really messed me up, because of course it did. So now even just a clip of it or an image from it gets in my head and really disturbs me. But at the same time I find that fear thrilling so I occasionally masochistically watch it. And then I sleep with the lights on and watch episodes of penguin documentaries to try and counter the fear. So that’s reasonable.
Are there things you fear?
Wow this is a hell of a question for someone with absolutely incapacitating anxiety issues! I mean. Existentially, I fear a lot of things, including the uncertainty of possible alternate universes or dimensions opening at the mere thought or suggestion of them. But also I fear fire. And probably more than most, I fear rust and the possibility of it contaminating my body and blood stream. I’ve also got a huge fear of ghosts and demonic possession (residual fear from The Exorcist situation). It’s become a true obsession of mine at this point so it comes out in my artwork a lot. I really love taking the things I fear (which to be honest is most things) and contorting it into art so that my terrified little brain can more easily process it.
The characters you tattoo are as cute as they are weird. How do you find the right balance?
I feel like I can't stop myself from combining cute and creepy. When I try to go fully cute it looks off to me and people still think it’s creepy. Or if I try to go full horror I always lean a little cute. Sometimes you just can’t fight whatever it is your heart wants you to draw. And it seems my heart really has a thing for cute shit that wants to give little kids either nightmares or therapy bills.
Some people know you through your participation in the Ink Master series, how did this series help the tattoo community? Some people think that this overmediation has sold its soul to the devil.
I think Inkmaster and tattoo tv overall have really opened a lot of doors in tattooing. Some people don’t like that, but I think those people are wrong. I’m glad that the tattoo world is changing because I think there was a lot of toxicity and gatekeeping going on and I hope it gets washed away. People who wouldn’t have felt welcome or comfortable either getting tattooed or becoming a tattooer now feel like it’s an option for them, and I think tattoo tv showcasing the art and the beauty of tattoos is a big reason why people feel more open to it. I would propose that keeping people out of the tattoo world by trying to maintain its secrecy or by excluding people is a much more detrimental deal with the devil.
How do you see the craft today?
I see a lot of change in tattooing. I recently got the chance to do a seminar at the Explorer Tattoo Conference and I got to look through a ton of portfolios. It was amazing! I loved getting to see how new tattooers are reshaping the industry, rather than just doing what everyone before them has done. New tattooers enter a world with more openness to education and they bring in their own perspective immediately! It’s not just apprentices being made to tattoo the same things over and over with no focus on individuality. People are bringing new elements in to mix with the old, finally. And I think it’s forcing progress into an industry that has been reluctant to the notion of progress until recently.
What best advice do you still give to tattoo artists who come to you?
The best advice I can give at this point is to just keep trying to do better. Try to learn something from each tattoo. Try to make each one a little better than the last. Everyone else is going to keep moving forward so you have to as well, but it’s up to you to decide how that looks. It keeps things exciting and interesting and it gives your clients the best results if you just keep striving to do better each day. And be open with information and receptive to it as well. Things change. Concepts you might have been taught can change. Keep an open mind and try to operate with the concept of progress in your head.
You enjoy writing about the subjects of the tattoos you make, the work would not be complete without these texts?
I have a lot of stories swirling around in my head all the time. Sometimes when I post a tattoo I just let a few of them slip out. I really love telling a story with art. I went to school for illustration and storytelling is a huge part of what I favor in art. It’s what I think about whenever I’m making the design, it gives a reason for every element. Why the colors were chosen, why the accessories or supporting characters were used…it’s all because of the story behind the tattoo. In my old age I’ve noticed those stories have become more strange and abstract and stream-of-consciousness than they used to be. Maybe in a few more years I’ll reach my David Lynch period and things will get real surreal. I can only hope!
Is writing an activity to which you devote time apart from drawing?
I’ve been writing more recently. I’d like to start taking creative writing classes since it’s always been a dream to author and illustrate a children’s book. But I’m real scatterbrained so it’s been kind of an uphill battle getting to that point. I’m hopeful I’ll be able to start that process in the next few months though. I’m saying that now as a roundabout way of holding myself accountable. Sneaky sneaky.
Do you have other artistic practices besides tattooing and drawing?
I paint with acrylics mostly. My time management skills are abysmal so sometimes I’ll bang out a painting really fast, other times it takes me months. It’s pretty all over the place. But the nice thing about painting is it completely changes the priorities. I don’t have to consider the flow of the body or making a free floating silhouette like I do in a tattoo. I have a set border. And I can go overboard with certain elements, selfishly. Like hair. I love painting hair so much. I love tattooing it too, but you have to be more thoughtful in a tattoo since it’s a collaboration between you and your client. In a painting I can just go recklessly overboard.
You live in Salem, a town known in the imagination for its relationship with witchcraft. What inspiration does folklore represent for you?
I love folklore! There’s so much available. So many old-as-time stories and they’re perfect for illustration. It’s fun taking something that’s been around forever, much longer than myself, and filtering it through my own perspective. I love how much Salem Massachusetts is steeped in folklore and feminine energy. It makes a nice home for some real creativity being thrown back and forth between people. Plus the amount of cultures that bring their own folk tales and stories to the party.
What characters do you have tattooed on you?
I have Lennie Briscoe and Jack McCoy from Law & Order done by Stefano Alcantara on my calves. Nikola Tesla on my thigh from Russ Abbott. Nick Cave on my calf from Tye Harris. And ode to The Crow from Teresa Sharpe. Jon Lovitz from The Wedding Singer on my thigh from DJ Tambe. And over the pandemic i got bored and did little portraits of Cyndi Lauper and Dr. Frank N. Furter on my calf. I’m going to be getting a Kelly LeBrock from Paul Vander Johnson soon as well. I didn’t realize how much of my skin is dedicated to a variety of pop culture until I started listing it just now. Thank you for making me confront that reality." + IG @kellydotylovessoup www.kellydotytattoo.com Heilheim Gallery 28 Norman St, Salem MA https://www.helheimgallery.com/
