Written by Atie Rusyda
(PHOTO: Atie Rusyda)
Tucked away in a little corner of 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace, you will find ‘Crevice’.
Sometimes it’s a tattoo studio, and sometimes a Disco, but it’s always the safe space for a group of creatives here in the Little Red Dot.
19-year-old Samantha Chan is one of the masterminds behind this art space where many individuals come to bond and gush over art together. On most days, Crevice is a tattoo studio run by three friends who came together thanks to tattooing.
Samantha was first exposed to tattoos when she was going through an ‘emo’ phase in her teenage years, where many figures she looked up to were clad in ink, mesmerising her. On top of that, she was driven to rebel against her parent’s wishes as she grew up in a conservative household where her parents were against such body art.
At 16, she stumbled upon a YouTube video that taught viewers how to tattoo themselves. “It was quite spontaneous — I used a sewing needle and tested it on the back of an eraser, then I tried my best to follow the YouTube tutorial of how to tattoo yourself. It’s called ‘Stick and Poke’, that’s what it’s known as.” As an artist, Samantha’s early medium and expression were drawings on paper. Recounting those days, she shared, “it started to feel very 2D and monotonous”. This caused her interest in tattooing to skyrocket, as she was fascinated by the challenge of drawing and working with an uneven kind of canvas — the human body. She started out tattooing her close friends who were interested in being her test subjects before finally having built enough confidence to market her skills to the masses in August 2020.
She started releasing tattoo flashes, accepting client requests and accommodating client briefs. Samantha’s early tattoo sessions were done in the comfort of her home – literally. As the living room of Samantha’s family home was her bedroom, clients would be getting tattooed openly and in full view – an absurd yet completely normal occurrence for the fledgling tattoo artist who was then still in search of a space that was truly hers.
She shared that ever since Crevice came to be, it was life-changing and one of the proudest moments for her as a tattoo artist as it all started to feel real. “At first, it was just an ego thing”, she shared, further stating that she felt like she was the “coolest person ever”, as she tattooed others and she donned a few herself. Over time, however, her relationship with her craft matured. Samantha started to derive purpose from tattooing, feeling sad and empty if she wasn’t tattooing or drawing designs. “It’s quite nice to see clients come in, especially if they are unadorned with no tattoos, and they leave feeling and looking happier because of the work I put on them. It’s an indescribable feeling.” Moreover, Samantha thoroughly enjoys the sessions with her clients, as she loves talking to each and every one of them.
Tattooing has opened up Samantha’s world to new people and their stories and what they have been through. Despite having met her clients’ expectations historically, Samantha spoke candidly about feeling uncertain about her competency, attributing it to her sometimes ridiculous, high personal standards. It’s a work in progress for Samantha, and in this way, the craft teaches her the importance of not being too self-critical and practising kindness towards herself.
When asked about her tattoo art style, Samantha shared that her works were heavily influenced by underground tattoo scenes and artists from overseas countries. It was very interesting how similar the paths of these artists were, given that most of them were self-taught, and they all had to build a name from scratch to get somewhere in the industry. Moreover, all of them had a similar tattoo style, as they approached the aesthetic aspect of tattooing with a relatively modern twist. Samantha and her friends in Crevice hoped to be able to introduce a fresh and new art style in Singapore’s tattoo scene, as they felt that many traditionally trained artists are doing literal designs. Crevice’s hope is that they will establish a more abstract and intricate aesthetic.
“I feel like if you want to do something, just go for it. But remember to be patient with yourself, and most importantly, don’t try to replicate someone else’s success.”
