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Scarification takes body art to next level, but not everyone is ready to go under the knife
By Rebekah Jones
Posted: 10/13/08, 4:18 AM EST Section: Feature
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He leaves the Greek letters as an open wound without stitches, throwing the bloody pieces of skin he chiseled off into the trashcan.
After the cuts heal, Dr. John's customer will have the letters of his fraternity in his arm for the rest of his life.
Unlike a tattoo, scarification is irreversible. And unlike most doctors, John does not have a medical degree - John Joyce is known as "Dr. John" only by those he scars.
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During the last two years, cutting has developed into a fad shared mostly among young people. As the trend continues to grow, these chop shops continue to appear across the country.
"When I first got into scarification, it was only people in the industry," said Joyce, a body artist at Scarab Body Arts in Armory Square. "Most people getting cuttings now are younger, and I think that's part of the appeal - it's new to them."
Recently, Joyce's clientele began increasing. College students, the usual customers in a tattoo parlor, have been turning to scarification, Joyce said.
Joyce begins by making light incisions on the skin he's scaring, which feels like a paper cut, he said. He then numbs the area with a topical anesthetic, and then uses a scalpel to cut into the skin and widen the design.
"People say it hurts less than a tattoo, and there's not as much bleeding as you'd think," he said.
No formal training is required to be a body artist - and New York State has no regulations on tattoo or scarification parlors. Despite the absence of laws, self-ruling is important to the body art business, Joyce said.
"Any regulations that are set for tattoo parlors in other places, we carry over for scarification," Joyce said.
Joyce will not cut anyone under age 18, anyone who appears to be intoxicated, and usually does not take walk-ins.
"With scarification, you have to have some lee-way," Joyce said. "Everyone scars differently, and it's not like a tattoo where you know how it's going to turn out, you have to be open about it."
Every year, Joyce attends tattoo workshops to meet with industry leaders and learn from some of the world's top tattoo artists. Although these events host hundreds of body artists, Joyce warns some parlors do not try to follow tattoo regulations.
"As long as you go to a shop that's up-to-date with industry standards and knows their technique, then there aren't really any risks," Joyce said. "But most of the work I've seen from people who call themselves scarification artists either cut too shallow or cut too deep - they don't know what they're doing."
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 4
gobigpelf
posted 10/13/08 @ 10:12 AM EST
John Joyce is <3
Also, that commentary from D.J. Rose is just one of the many reasons I'll never go into Halo. Talk about pretentious...
ryan
posted 10/13/08 @ 5:23 PM EST
My ex girlfriend got a tattoo Scarab and her friend did too the same day. Both came out blurry and the placement didnt make sense. The spot on Erie does decent work (dont go to M Street) Ive only seen crap work come out of electric circus. (Continued…)
SkinBright
posted 6/29/09 @ 3:52 PM EST
No formal training is required to be a body artist - and New York State has no regulations on tattoo or scarification parlors. Despite the absence of laws, self-ruling is important to the body art business
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