We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sammi Qwok. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sammi below.
Sammi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I was always “the art kid” in every classroom that I wound up in, so it was never far from the forefront of my mind that I would wind up in a creative field. I’d be torn between my love for animals and my love for art, so growing up I’d say that I wanted to become my vet. But at the same time, I never put down my sketchbook! Coming from an Asian household, academic success was always touted, and I performed very well on all my report cards. I was a high achiever all through to the end of high school, which is when I made the leap to pursue art. After a lifetime of books and essays, I started art school at Pratt Institute, where I would spend the next four years trying to hold my own against peers who have trained for the arts all their lives. I graduated with a degree in 2D Animation in 2018. It wasn’t until 2020 — mid-pandemic and two years of freelancing later– that I would stumble into the field of tattooing.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m asked this question all the time. It wasn’t anything glamorous… I hadn’t dreamt or planned my entire life to go into tattooing. I honestly kind of fell into it. I was in the right place at the right time, found a mentor who found it worth their time to take me under their wing, and followed through with grit and determination.
Now, four years later, I personally still consider myself a baby tattooer. I will never stop learning and evolving. At this point in my tattooing career, I’ve worked at 2 different tattoo studios in New York City, and I’m now working out of a private studio shared with 2 other resident artists plus a rotating slew of international guest artists. I’m blessed to have built up a little pool of clientele and I’m always so honored when I get referrals.
I don’t think my tattoos fit into a particular category of tattoo style… but is a special blend of illustrative, painterly, and fine-line. All of my work is created custom for my clients. I stand behind craftsmanship, and carefully orchestrating the entire intimate process of tattooing from beginning to end (from consultation, designing, execution, to all the personal exchanges in between).
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I think that it can be hard for non-creatives to fathom just how much tenacity it truly takes for a creative to “jump into the deep end”, per se. It takes guts to entangle your livelihood with your passion. More often than not, the starving artist trope isn’t far from the truth.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
The thing with traditional tattoo apprenticeships is that they can be grueling both physically and mentally. The first two years of my tattooing journey involved repeatedly reminding myself to ‘trust in the process’ each time I had a particularly discouraging unpaid week of line-work practice and shop cleaning. It took a good year before I saw a single dollar, and many more months before my expenses even started to break even.
I had to tell myself several times that those four years of art school weren’t a total waste.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/inkypaperclip
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inkypaperclip
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inkypaperclip
- Other: https://form.jotform.com/inkypaperclip/sammis-tattoo-request-form
Image Credits
Jerry Qu, Sammi Qwok