The Godmother Of Tattooing

Kate tells Meraki, ‘When I started tattooing, civilians didn’t get tattooed and women didn’t get tattooed, it was strictly men and military men at that.’

In fact there were very few tattoo shops and just a handful of dedicated owners who came from the world of circus and sideshows where they worked as exhibitors if not as artists themselves.

She was acutely aware of her oddity as not only a tattooist but in particular as a female tattooist, a novelty that could be cleverly positioned and used to generate increased business among bustling street shops.

Then, in 1961 tattooing was made illegal throughout the 5 Boroughs of New York. Astonishingly this ban was not lifted until 1997.

Of course, Kate continued undeterred outside the ban's jurisdiction.

Kate and Meraki discuss her 50 year career and that the craft of tattooing originated with tribal women, only to be commercialised and ring fenced by men with the advent of machines.

She defines tattooing as a spiritual work, a work of energy and a marker of your life, " Every tattoo is a memorial of whatever was happening to you at the moment".