Journal logo

BLACK MEDICINE TATU

PRIMAL FUTURISM WITH INDIGOFOXXX

By indigo foxxxPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
1
TAP INTO YOUR TEMPLE

My name is Karleigh aka Indigo Fox. I am born, raised, and based in Miami, Florida. I create across many mediums and am the founder of “Black Medicine Tatu”. The focus of my work is self exploration and self expression. I believe that by studying our primal past and possibilities of the future we discover how to live in the present moment. I have been creating since my mom “also an artist” taught me to draw as a child.

Black Medicine Tatu started as a concept that soon became my business, as it grew and matured. As a painter I never expected to be a tattoo artist and even turned down a few tattoo apprenticeships early on in college to focus on my studies.

A couple months before graduating I was looking for work and ended up managing a tattoo shop. Immersed in this new and exciting community I fell in love with the craft and eventually left the job to pursue my own practice as an artist. I knew early on what I was attracted to, even though the vision I had for the future of tattooing didn’t exist here in Miami yet.

I focused on design elements that respond to the anatomy of the body. We are naturally complex and beautiful creatures. I am moved by the human form and it’s endless possibilities for modification. These changes can be subtle and delicate, or heavy, covering large portions of the body.

First of all, I believe in designing the whole body at one time even if it is not a lot of skin being covered. The most important elements to me are symmetry and cohesiveness to create an elegant and timeless tatu.

For a long time my differences made it very difficult for me to work, until I established a loyal client base and started to reach the correct audience. Working in typical commercial tattoo studios felt unnatural to me because the environment did not aid the purpose of my work. Black Medicine Tatu is very niche and puts as much emphasis on the psychological as the visual. These tatus are designed to enhance and flow with the individual's anatomy. The flow also depends on the interests and personality of the individual, getting them closer to the avatar, or body, they feel represents their inner self.

Some designs are very primal and organic and some more futuristic and “neo-tribal”. This work is a fusion of our ancestral past and our future as a species. We are attempting to remember our primal urges, and cast away fear to tap into something new and transcendental. I consider each tatu an intensive energy exchange in which I attempt to guide the person to surrender their understanding of suffering and realize that it is a vehicle for evolution. The tatu like those worn by warriors are adornments you keep with you in life as a reminder of your ability to persevere.

Although we forget, we are not our bodies, they are temporary vessels for our souls. We get comfortable in our daily lives and that can make us numb to our higher self. So often, humans choose and become addicted to their suffering. Suffering can be an incredible tool for growth, exposing aspects of ourselves that even we didn’t know existed.

Unfortunately this often leaves us drained from toxic situations or toxic people. Black Medicine Tatu is an expressive and energetically non-toxic way to take this journey internally. These rituals can be short or last 6-8 hours and are a real trip through consciousness. The process can be intense and painful to both the subject and the artist so often we enter states of trance and deep meditation. Many describe waves of emotions and physical sensations that allow you to observe different facets of the self.

We find different ways to perceive and cope with our feelings. I’ve seen amazing transformation in myself and my clients through this work. Self-love, compassion, and confidence all seem to increase as we attribute what we learn from these rituals in everyday life when encountering difficult or painful situations. There are endless ways to tap into your “Consciousness” and this is the ritual through which I guide meditations.

My work is for everyone because even if you don’t consider yourself “spiritual”; altering the physical body in any way, will subconsciously affect you. I also think it’s important first to realize that we are all spiritual by default because spirit is what we are before we extend ourselves into the flesh we have here on earth.

Everyone connects in a different way and my work is for those who feel called to it themselves. Sometimes this work can be brutal and other times gentle, but always primal, eliciting emotions and perspectives you’ve never encountered before. Some people come to me more interested in the artistic aspects and some come looking to feel. I would say a big part of the attraction is the semi-permanent alterations made to the physical body that are visible to outsiders. ( I say semi-permanent because nothing is permanent. In a song I recently released called, “Black Medicine” I say “it’s sentimental, that this body is a rental’’.

I will say, whether people like it for themselves or not almost everyone who sees the work in person has a sense of awe and amazement. In adulthood we become used to things and lose that childlike sense of wonder. In this way I feel even people who do not want to physically receive the black tatu can, and often are, still moved by the novelty of seeing something they have never seen before.

I've found when you work humbly and passionately the work guides you. You become a magnet to the right people, places and things. Nothing is coincidence and you must match your faith and commitment to the craft. I give gratitude to be chosen as a vessel for creation and healing. Intuition and synchronicities can become a sixth sense if you allow them to. This involves not stressing things that are not for you. The more you fill your space with other people’s realities the more difficult it becomes to remember what your DIVINE and UNIQUE mission is.

Art through history, ideas of the future, nature, emotions, thoughts and experiences all shape my evolution and tatu has weaved its way into that space. Everything you are is on the other side of fear. Pain anxiety and fear are all opinions of the mind; an illusion if you will. We can facilitate healthy, controlled, and CONSENSUAL experiences that can become a teacher for the way we handle our everyday lives. My work is a prayer from the depths of my heart and as long as I feel it is making a positive impact on the world around me I will continue to study and grow with this work.

art
1

About the Creator

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.