Spiritual Tattoo Artist Changing The Game
By: Herby Richard Vixamar
Greenwich Village, New York City — Romans 12:1 says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (ESV). Jon Boy, a tattoo artist at West 4th Tattoo shop, is an active practitioner of the faith who openly engages in prayer. Now, with thousands of tattoo shops dominating the city, it is very rare to find one that incorporates his/her faith into their work. However, Jon Boy is one-of-a-kind as he combines his faith in God with the art of tattooing.
Jessica, Aditya, and I decided to follow our friend, Nicole, as she was about to get her first tattoo with Jon Boy. As we entered Jon Boy’s shop, Justin Bieber’s redemptive album, “Purpose” was playing in the background, a receptionist with crosses on his knuckles was checking people in for their appointments, and an anxious Nicole waited for Jon Boy to approach her. When he emerged, Jon Boy was pretty much covered from head to toe in black, with his cool demeanor becoming evident as he entered the room. When he approached Nicole, she pulled out the bible verse she wanted to get tatted: “Do not conform, Renew your mind.” A few moments later, Nicole joined Boy in a prayer, asking God for guidance.
While Nicole was getting her tattoo, Jonboy engaged with us in a conversation style interview. He willingly answered our questions while talking openly about his faith, and addressed the complexities of his journey as a tattoo artist.
One of the very first questions we asked Jon Boy was, “Do you pray every time you give a tattoo?” For Boy, praying is an essential part of his tattooing process. In response to our question, Jon Boy said, “…because I am a man of faith and I walk with God everyday, praying is just like talking to God.” This tattoo veteran has fifteen years under his belt. His pen has reached many, but mostly people practicing the Christian faith. We then asked Jon Boy about his tattooing work and the types of tattoos he creates. Jon Boy’s response to this question was strikingly interesting. He explained, “I tattoo a lot of Christians, I tattoo a lot of people of faith, people that are broken.” Depending on who it is, when one is broken and or feels defeated, they often find solace and comfort in religion/scriptures. Consequently, having scriptures permanently tattooed could be a permanent reminder that everything will work out the way it’s suppose to.
Before meeting Boy, I hit the internet for research, to see if his tattoos were strictly faith oriented. I found that Boy can tattoo anything one would want, even if is not religiously oriented. However, he does admit that faith — inspired tattoos are his favorite because they allow him to reflect on his own reality. Nicole’s idea for her tattoo really inspired him, and he was more than excited to do it because he feels that
“…that’s something that I have to do every day…this is New York City…you’re going to be told you need to be this [and] you need to be that. I’m not gonna conform to the pattern of the world. I’m just gonna renew my mind, the way I think.”
Words and lettering are also Boy’s favorite style of tattooing. “Words speak volume, so I feel like words are so powerful that people want to get them on their body just as a reminder of who they are or who they were or who they want to become.”
Boy recalls often feeling alienated and ridiculed by other tattoo artists for his faith inspired tattoos. He went on to tell us about his experience getting his first tattoo, during which he mention: “I would get tattoos that had to do with my faith and the artist would make fun of me…who wants to feel uncomfortable in a chair getting a tattoo that means a lot to me.” He told us how he was able to turn this negative experience into a positive one for the customers he now tattoos. He takes his job as a tattoo artist very seriously, and sees it as an, “An honor that someone would come to me to mark their body for life and I’m going to take that serious and I’m gonna make sure that I do the best job.”
Alongside tattooing, Jon Boy also attends Hillsong church, a Christian oriented church with two locations in New York City, one in midtown at the PlayStation Theater and the other in downtown at Irving Plaza. We really wanted to know if any pastors or worship leaders have come to him to get tattooed, as this custom is still frowned upon amongst religious circles. In response to this question, Boy said that,
“Most of the churches I went to were anti — tattoo, they were against tattoos just because of the old testament and it says not to mark your body. [They were] reading things out of context.” Boy revealed that attending Hillsong opened his mind up to the possibility that the art of tattooing can cross paths with the church. He mentioned that,
“90% of my clients come from church — whether it’s the pastors [or others].”
Coincidentally, a worship leader at Hillsong, Cody Williams, was also getting a tattoo from Jon Boy that day. Knowing how frowned upon getting a tattoo is, especially in the Christian world. At this point in the session, we decided to ask Cody about his reasons for getting a tattoo, and he provided the following answer: “This is my first tattoo, so for me I’ve never gotten a tattoo because to just get a tattoo with no meaning doesn’t make sense to me.” Cody was getting the initials of his four daughters on a family crest. He says, “In a lot of ways it is spiritual in the sense of for me there’s going to be a depth in that. Something I’m proud to carry forever.”
With one arm to go, we asked Jon Boy about how he got into tattoos in the first place. He said, “[I] went to school to be a youth pastor, at design college in Rhode Island and I just fell into tattooing. I started hanging out in local tattoo parlors and it basically took me on this dream.”
“But when I started tattooing I fell away from the church because the church people told me that I was doing the work of the devil. People were telling me that this wasn’t of God, wasn’t the gift that God had given me and I feel that it is. I feel that this is my call, this has been my call. I get to tattoo broken people and it’s my opportunity to be a light, a beacon of light, whether it’s love in them, or I have a word for them.”
In terms of his own tattoos, Jon Boy is “pretty covered” after showing us his sleeves. His first tattoo deals with his faith. Further explaining, he said, “It’s a crown of thorns to remind me that I’m crucified of Christ daily.” Besides his first one, he did say that he does have other stuff pertaining to his devotion to his faith. He showed us his tattoo of two pennies. He explained the story of, “this woman [offering up] two pennies and all these religious people gave more but Jesus said the person that gave the most is that lady that gave the two pennies because she gave her all and that’s a reminder to give your all. Each one of my tattoos has some kind of meaning or even just like a memory of where I was in life.”
Jon Boy uses his position as a believer to influence others, not just by tattooing, but even through praying for them and encouraging them as well. He says, “…a prayer goes a long way. For an individual to be in my chair, it’s an opportunity to pray over them and so they know that they are in good hands. It’s a trust thing as well. You’re getting in my chair and someone is going to put something permanent on your body, you want to make sure that you’re going to be able to trust that person.”
Times are changing and Jon Boy is definitely someone who wants to keep pushing the standards.
If you would like to get in touch with Jon Boy or check out his work, his information is below:
Location: West Fourth Tattoo, in West Village (163 W 4th St New York, NY, 10014)
Email: appts@bangbangforever.com
Instagram: @jonboytattoo
