Looking at the big
picture via skin art

By Jon Campisi
Times Staff Writer

Gary Copestake just sits there and smiles as the needle pulses back and forth across his skin, leaving colorful, indelible marks just below the surface.
It may seem strange to those who are foreign to the art of tattooing, but the pain is often the last thing on the minds of customers who return time and time again to satisfy their urge to cram more and more images on their bodies.
Hence the smile across Copestake’s face.
But his story is somewhat unique; this 52-year-old Somerton resident has been getting tattooed for only a little more than a year. It all started when he took his then-18-year-old son to get his first tattoo.
Now, Copestake has a full sleeve (tattoo jargon for entire arm coverage), a back piece and another sleeve in the making.
For Copestake, who doesn’t drink or smoke, tattooing has become his one and only vice.
Philadelphia’s love affair with tattooing goes back a ways. The history of the art throughout the city is undeniable. From the iconic Philadelphia Eddie, whose downtown shop has inspired tattooists over the years from far and wide, to the young up-and-comers making a name for themselves in the field, the somewhat misunderstood art form is worn by, and practiced by, many Philadelphians.
But whereas certain parts of the city are thriving when it comes to the tattoo business, other parts are still struggling in this department. Count the Great Northeast in that category.
Things are beginning to change, though, just as society has been changing its views of tattooing, with many beginning to finally accept the art of tattooing for what it is — art.
"I think the art is getting better, so people can’t really deny it," said Pastor, or "Past," who goes by only one name and is a 30-year-old tattoo artist working out of Deep Six Laboratory off Grant Avenue in Bustleton.
"Tattooing is the only art you can truly own," Past continued. "When you die, it dies with you."
Like many tattoo artists, Past got his start in the business after trying his hand in other art mediums. One not-so-socially-acceptable medium that fascinated him was graffiti art. But since he couldn’t make a living doing graffiti, Past turned to tattooing, and he hasn’t looked back since. That was more than eight years ago.
"It is truly becoming a more legitimized art form," Past, who was born, raised and remains in the Northeast, said of tattooing.
He runs Deep Six Laboratory alongside four of his closest friends, all of whom are respected artists in their own right. They are Paul Acker, Tim Victim, Eddie Kes and Mike Hill.
At 26, Acker, who grew up in Frankford and now lives in Tacony, has already made a pretty good name for himself on the tattoo scene, the numerous award plaques hanging on the wall of his station at Deep Six a testament to his work.
Acker is known for his realism, and he has a particular fondness for portraiture work, especially portraits of characters from horror films, since his love affair with the genre dates back to his childhood.
As for tattooing, Acker decided what he wanted to do right out of high school, having attended a school for creative and performing arts.
"It was pretty much something I always wanted to do," he said during an interview at the shop last week.
As for the tattoo scene in the Northeast, Acker said the fewer shops in this part of the city isn’t necessarily a bad thing. And being somewhat regulated, he said, works to their advantage, since more shops could mean more people getting bad work.
But at the same time, a lack of tattoo shops in the Northeast was precisely the reason Acker and the others decided to open Deep Six. The process to reach that point, however, was full of frustration and aggravation, and it took about two years, from start to finish, until the tattoo parlor was up and running.
"In Philadelphia, it’s extremely hard," Acker said. "We went through a lot to open the shop. We went through a long, long fight."
One reason for the difficulty, in Acker’s mind, is the social stigma still attached to tattooing.
"I think they (politicians) look at it like it might bring down the neighborhoods," he said, noting that historically people would associate tattoos with drunken sailors and motorcycle gangs.
But things have changed dramatically. Fellow artist Past pointed out that people of all walks of life are getting tattooed these days.
Past said the decision to open the shop in the Northeast served a dual purpose: They wanted to bring tattooing to an area where it was lacking, and they wanted to remain in their hometown.
"Why should we be chased out of our own environment?" he asked. "We’re from here. It’s not like we came here to ruin your neighborhood."
Acker said Deep Six is the most recent shop to open in the city, having celebrated its two-year anniversary last month. Tattoo shops are a restricted use as far as zoning goes, he said, which perhaps was another reason for the difficulty in opening.
But just as reasons for getting a tattoo vary, so do entrepreneurs’ experiences with opening a studio.
Take, for example, Keir Wells. Wells, a thirtysomething lifelong Somerton resident, owns and operates Gemini Tattoo in his home neighborhood. When Wells opted to open his own shop 10 years ago, he had virtually no problems with city officials.
At that time, the board of health was not involved to the extent that it is today, and it was just a matter of getting city approval to operate since tattoo shops were simply viewed as a commercial enterprise, allowable under most commercially zoned districts.
"Opening it wasn’t a problem," Wells said last week, while taking a break from tattooing a client.
But staying open can be a challenge some days, considering the constant attention focused on tattoo shops by the powers that be.
"L & I is frustrating on a good day," Wells said with a smile, referring to the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections.
As for the art itself, tattooist Mike Flood, a Northeast native who works at Gemini and has been tattooing for six years, said it is definitely becoming more accepted.
Before getting into tattooing, Flood installed kitchens and bathrooms for a living, and he said customers in upper-class areas where he worked, some of whom traditionally may have shunned tattooed people, seemed to have been becoming more open-minded.
"They seemed more interested than normal people on the street," he said. "A lot of people are more intrigued about it."
So the question remains: Why has tattooing become more popular of late, especially among younger generations? Wells and Flood attribute it to exposure, especially in the age of reality television, where tattoo shops enter the homes of millions of Americans in the form of shows like Miami Ink and L.A. Ink.
As for style, while Acker of Deep Six has a special affinity for horror images, Flood said he prides himself on versatility, tackling everything from black-and-gray designs to bold color pieces.
"You’ve got to be ready to please everybody," he said.
As for the tattoo-shop environment, Acker, who began drawing at 4 years of age, said many studios today are more a place to showcase artistic talents than the tattoo parlor of yesteryear.
Take Deep Six, for example, where original paintings and drawings adorn the lobby walls.
"We kind of look at it as a tattoo studio with an art gallery inside," he said. "We’re pretty heavily into all mediums, pretty well-rounded. We were artists first.
"In the last twenty years . . . even in the last five years . . . it has come a long way," Acker concluded. "Tattooing is definitely an art form now. There are real artists doing them." ••
Reporter Jon Campisi can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jcampisi@phillynews.com