Talia Migliaccio

"I think we often move through substantial moments in life that we don’t end up articulating or being witnessed in. Tattoo offers a way to mark time and honor these moments which in turn can support us in honoring life."

What is the work you’re offering?
At the core of what I'm offering is paying witness to people in their process of transformation. Often it is to a significant moment in someone’s life and supporting the articulation process through making meaning of that moment and marking it on the body as a handpoked tattoo. It is prayer and medicine, a way of honoring what has been and what will be.

How can tattoos play a role in these moments?
I think we often move through substantial moments in life that we don’t end up articulating or being witnessed in. We don’t consciously acknowledge that we're moving through a gate, a transformation, a death, growth, something that changes us deeply. Tattoo offers a way to mark time and honor these moments which in turn can support us in honoring life. 

How do you describe your tattoo practice?
What I offer is more or less intuitive ceremonial tattoo. Ultimately it is a form of divining which sometimes I will describe as being a translator or archaeologist. I've always had a relationship with the practice where I'm listening to the craft first and foremost. I don't come from an informed lineage. I have not learned from another human but rather from the art form and experience of the practice directly. I see it as channeling a frequency or taking inputs and moving them through an aesthetic language that I've been in relationship with for years through my art practice. 

What are sessions with you like?
They are intimate, relational, welcoming, soft, and collaborative. I primarily create custom symbolism for people informed by what they’re looking to mark and make meaning of. In this process we spend the first part of a session in dialogue so that I can listen to whatever is wanting to come forward. It can be a story or a moment, a lot or a little. From there I intuitively draw directly on the body, make adjustments to the design if need be until it is completely resonant for them. On occasion I have been offering a second kind of session where people can go through my sketchbooks, which are whole worlds and pick something that speaks to them. 

Do you see both of these as intuitive?
Yes, when people are picking images out of my sketchbook, it is almost like a divinatory tool of what are you attracted to? What resonates? That is what's so amazing about visual language - it’s universal and thus transcends the limitation of words.

Has tattoo always been a part of your life?
I have definitely had a lifelong affinity for tattoo. When I was little I'd often be covered in temporary tattoos. I got really into watching all the tattoo shows when that era was alive. I think it was maybe in my sixth grade art classroom, that there was a list of careers to choose as an artist and I remember tattooist being on there, which struck a chord in me. 

What inspired you to start pursuing tattoo?
It was an early seed in me and I thought I would try and find an apprenticeship in a shop when I was still quite young. Then I attended a tattoo appointment with my grandmother and I got to talk to the working artists which left me feeling like this could not be further from what I want to do. A little bit later Tumblr became a real thing and was an expansive avenue to discover artists. I became fascinated with this interdisciplinary artist’s tattoo work there and we became internet friends. We ended up meeting in NY the fall of my 18th birthday. He came and spent about 3 weeks at my moms house that winter. He never taught me how to tattoo but watching him work just made me realize that if I wanted to start tattooing I could just start. 

What happened after that?
The following spring I was visiting Los Angeles staying with some friends who happened to live around the corner from a tattoo supply shop, which isn't really a common thing, and they brought me to buy supplies after I mentioned wanting to do little tattoos of my drawings. Within a couple of days I was tattooing friends. I was still in highschool and really just doing it for fun. I began sharing more of my work on Instagram and about a year into it I attended Spirit Weavers Gathering. It changed my life in every sense and connected me to a growing community that values ceremony and connection with Earth. When I went back to Denver, I made a post on Instagram formally booking sessions and I booked 2 weeks in less than 24 hours. That's the moment I realized there was really something here…

What role have psychedelics played on your path?
It's important to contextualize that I ate a large dose of LSD at age 12 and I didn't really know how to comprehend or integrate the experience. I grew up regularly going to a metaphysical bookstore, Isis, with my grandmother. Shortly after this initial experience with LSD, I started buying books on psychedelics, ceremonial master teacher plants, ET communication etc. So by age 15, I was knee deep in consciousness studies and I started eating LSD pretty regularly and synthesizing the experience through art making as a tool of self-inquiry and self-development. LSD can have such a powerful visual field which was super stimulating for me as an artist. I started to explore if there was a way to expand consciousness through art that maybe doesn't require one to actually eat entheogens. That’s when I got really into symbolism and sacred geometry. Psychedelics have continued to play a substantial role in my life as I am deeply interested in how we can re-pattern ourselves and our narratives in an integrated manner. 

Why is tattoo an important part of our past and present?
Tattoo has been practiced for thousands of years all over the world. No matter what culture we're looking at, it's always been some version of marking time or a right of passage. It is often in relation to the cosmology of the peoples and the place. The fact that our bodies are designed to hold it is completely profound. We have seven layers of dermis and there happens to be this little area between where the derma sheds and the bloodstream and immune system where a permanent mark will remain in tact and visible.

What is the significance of tattooing by hand?
Dot by dot to make a whole. The shampoo you use, the food you eat, and the way it’s impacting other humans. This is what life is, a quilt of all these little things that are interacting. We're all very similar at the end of the day. We're one species of being. So even in all our diversity, we're all the same operating system. 

What are your other personal practices?
Writing daily is huge for me, especially right now. And oftentimes I am also painting or drawing daily. It's part of how I keep time, record patterns and observations. I have such a circuitous experience of time that it keeps me grounded and oriented, but also creates an artifact that I can refer back to. My prayer practice is definitely the thing carrying me right now and what I feel like I'm most visibly watching construct my reality. A lot of my relationship to object is linked to my prayer practice. 

What is next to your bed?
Next to my bedside right now is a little traveling altar. In the center there's a 300 year old Buddha that I found when I was in Japan that's sitting on a little stone of malachite. There's these two antique eyeliner containers from Thailand creating a sort of gate around the Buddha. And then there's these three amazing stones that came from a mud flat in upstate New York that were gifted to me recently by some really amazing humans who I sat in ceremony with. There is also a small incense holder. A place that supports me in holding my gratitude practice, a reminder to offer praise and prayer morning and night.

Books you are recommending now?

Spiritual Ecology, the Cry of the Earth.

Anything by Martin Shaw, he has completely changed my life. 

Circe by Madeline Miller

Best advice you have received?
Our tea teacher always says, “it's never as heavy as it seems.” And it's so true. I can go full underworld on everything as it's way easier for me to occupy a space of grief than it is to play but playing and levity are so deeply important. Especially in the face of adversity.

Words of wisdom you want to share?
Someone recently sent me an inquiry of what would you tell yourself 10 years ago, and this is what came through. “Life is short. Live it well. You do not owe anyone anything. You never need to compromise your joy and curiosity for another. If it is not completely bringing you to life, move on. Try something different. Learn, expand, stay open and curious and leap often. Surround yourself with people who want the best for themselves and for you. Never hold back your voice. Ask what is on your heart.”

Photos by Sam Stenson