Female and queer-led tattoo studios in Adelaide are creating more welcoming spaces

A new generation of tattoo artists in Adelaide – including a growing band of female and queer artist-led studios – are changing the way we think about ink.

A growing band of female and queer-led tattoo studios in Adelaide is changing the way we think about ink.

They’re part of a new generation of tattoo artists taking business into their own hands and contributing to a booming industry, anticipated to grow by 7.5 per cent nationally in 2023.

Queer female artists Allanah Pankhurst and George Gilles of new city tattoo studio, Gilded Goblin, want to help change the face of tattoo studios. Their space, designed with an “1800s drawing room/Alice in Wonderland lost in a teashop” in mind, is a far cry from studios past.

“We wanted to create a space that was softer … and put a feminine touch on the whole thing,” said co-owner Ms Gilles.

“Traditionally the decor is black, death, grim. Which is fine – heavy metal – but we wanted to create somewhere that felt like, ‘this is beautiful, I feel safe here’.

“I remember walking into my first (studio) when I was 17 – I got my first tattoo on my 18th birthday – and thinking, ‘this is really scary – I’m covered in pink and I’m into David Bowie’.

“We’re not for one group of people, but we are for everybody.”

Allanah Pankhurst and George Gilles, co-owners of Gilded Goblin in the Adelaide Arcade. Picture: Morgan Sette

Gilded Goblin, the first tattoo studio in Adelaide Arcade, is among a number of new-world tattoo studios to open in Adelaide. Others include pop culture specialists Little Harajuku, with its pink and purple pastel logo; and the QPOC (queer people of colour)-owned Halfpace. All studios describe themselves as “safe spaces”.

Little Harajuku owner Nikii, who prefers her surname withheld, said it means creating an environment that is “without fear or judgement”.

“We (tattoo artists) also appreciate having a working environment that is supportive, caring and stress free,” she said.

“There are more female and gender fluid artists in the tattoo industry and that has been a force in transforming tattoo workplaces.”

Ms Gilles said their inclusivity has drawn a greater clientele.

“We’ve had a lot of inquiries; people saying ‘I’m queer’ or ‘I’m autistic’ or ‘I have sensory requirements, this is perfect for me’,” Ms Gilles said.

“We can contribute to the change in ethos. We very much want to be in that futuristic pool where we take client experience really seriously, which I don’t think has happened in the past.”

While the number of studios is ever-growing, there’s no competition among owners, Ms Gilles says. “We still can’t meet the demand,” she said, adding that some well-known artists’ waitlists could be years’ long.

IBISWorld estimates the market share for tattoo studios in Australia has grown an annual average of 4.8 per cent in the past five years, to $384.7m. That growth is expected to jump to 7.5 per cent in 2022-23.

Queer female artists Allanah Pankhurst and George Gilles of new city tattoo studio, Gilded Goblin, want to help change the face of tattoo studios. Picture: Morgan Sette

Latest research on the topic conducted by social analysts McCrindle, meanwhile, showed one in four Australians had a tattoo at the end of 2019, up from one in five in 2018.

Social researcher Ashley Fell said the survey of 1000 Australians also revealed a shift away from tattoos as a “youthful rebellion, low class or crime”.

“Tattoos are also more common among women, and older women at that, indicating that tattoos are moving to a form of self-expression and symbolic meaning,” she said.

The sentiment rings true for Ms Gilles, who specialises in neotraditional ink art, custom designed for each client.

“Fifty years ago the people who got tattoos were a specific group but now tattoos are for everybody,” she said.

“We want to help eradicate that stigma … now, it’s just a form of artistic expression just like fashion, hair and makeup.”

Designing a welcoming space was key to this. On face value, Gilded Goblin doesn’t “look like” a typical tattoo studio – so much so, one elderly couple walked into the space asking if they could purchase one of the antique mirrors on the wall.

“They were a bit taken aback once they realised they'd walked into a tattoo studio,” Ms Gilles said.

“I just chatted with them … they ended up staying an hour. And they weren’t after a tattoo!”