Sienna Mackey,
pre-business junior
Tell me a story about your tattoo.
It was a blissful summer’s afternoon in 2010. Me and a bunch of friends were just hanging out in my living room, and one of my friends was like, “Hey, let’s do stick and pokes.” So we did, and I got this one, the diamond. My friend got a peace sign on her wrist, which I heard hurts really bad. My tattoo took two hours and hurt really bad.
What does it symbolize for you?
I don’t know; let me make something up real quick.
Do you have any future tattoo plans?
I do. I would like to go professional next time, and I’d like to get a shoulder piece of a rose, which is so cliché, but it’s my middle name. I want to do it in water color and have it just sweep across my shoulder. But we’ll see. I’m also contemplating doing a piece around the diamond on my ankle, and turning it into something that is significant to me instead of just a whim.
Michelle Closs,
2007 UA alumna, psychology and athletic training
Tell me a story about your tattoo.
I’m the youngest of 13 kids. My sister is a tattoo artist, so I grew up watching tattoo artistry on bodies as a way of expression, but I never really wanted to get one on my own body. When I was turning 17, I went with a bunch of kids to a tattoo parlor, and I watched them choose a bunch of ridiculous things off the wall and put them on their bodies permanently. I made a decision that I am never going to just pick someone else’s artwork and put it on my body; it’s going to have to be unique. So, the question popped into my head, “Well, why is it that they are putting these things on their bodies?” Mostly instant gratification. So, my very first tattoo is on my lower abdomen, and it’s a stamp that says, “instant gratification,” as a testament to what I feel most people do right off the cusp of getting their first tattoo.
What does your tattoo symbolize for you?
In the last decade, it’s reminded me of where I don’t want to be anymore in my life, as far as making decisions based on instant gratification.
Do you have any future tattoo plans?
I do. What’s interesting is all the boys in my family have our last name on their stomachs. Growing up pretty androgynous with my gender, I was on the cusp of whether I was going to join my brothers in doing that or not. My piece is going to be very genderless and unique in joining them in the name quest. And I am going to have my sister do it for me!
