Obsidra opened in 2014 in two rooms above a print shop. Six chairs later the rule has not changed: every piece is drawn from scratch for one person.
There is no front desk, no manager, and no house style. You email an artist and that artist writes back. The person who answers your questions is the person holding the machine.
It caps how much work we can take, which is the point. Nobody here is tattooing a design they saw for the first time that morning.
Noor and one borrowed machine, above Kessler Print on the corner of Vance and 11th. Appointment only from the first day.
The print shop moved out and we took the street level. Tam joined and brought Japanese work with him.
Built for chest, ribs and anything that needs a door. It stayed after everything reopened because people kept asking for it.
Two week residencies four times a year. Artists we would travel to see, in the chair by the window.
Where we are now. The booking book runs about a quarter ahead and the flash wall turns over monthly.
Five lines that have not changed since 2014. Two of them are the reason somebody occasionally walks back out.
Every piece starts as a drawing made for you. Even a flash claim gets resized and adjusted to the body it is going on.
If a design needs to be bigger to still read in ten years, we will say so, and we will not tattoo it small to close the booking.
We will not trace another artist’s tattoo. Bring it as a reference and we will draw you something of your own.
Eighteen with photo ID, every time, no exceptions and no arguments at the counter.
If you come back and something is not settling, that is a free visit and an honest look, not a sales conversation.
Consults run forty minutes and cost nothing. Come with references, a rough placement, and a budget range. You leave with a date, an artist, and a price band.
