1. adam
by Ilsa Shaw meaningful thing, and sometimes it kills their tat-
francey
photograph by Dylan Knapp too, because they try to pack too much information
in too small an area. If you’re going to get something
olling up the ends of his cargo shorts, meaningful, simplify your idea a little bit, and let it be
Adam Francey reveals a jagged maze more of a natural thing. Sometimes, it’s just nice to get
ink of black designs inked into his skin.
Francey, who will receiving his Mas-
ter’s in Fine Arts Painting from RIT
something for art’s sake,” advises Francey.
True to his own advice, Francey has recently taken to
this year, is showing me his rst tattoo, sifting through the galleries of other admirable tattoo
the very one he gave himself. At the artists and getting tattooed by them, simply out of ap-
age of 17, Francey caught his first whiff of tattooing preciation for their art. “They are starting to realize
when he decided to tattoo his own thigh. His parents, that tattooing is an art form. People should start real-
who shunned the thought of tattoos, jokingly told him izing that there are some really nice artists out there
he might as well do it himself. “So I did,” says Francey. who do phenomenal work, and just because they’re
far away, it shouldn’t stop you from being tattooed by
According to Francey, self-tattooing is how many art- them,” remarks Francey, who has traveled to Boston,
ists start out in the business, as much as they may New York City, Syracuse, and many other cities with
avoid ‘fessing-up to the fact. Case in point: soon after- individual tattoo artists in mind.
wards, Francey received an apprenticeship at Xtreme
Graphi x, a tattoo parlor in downtown Rochester. Even so, t he more tat toos he gat her s, t he more
Within a month, he had started tattooing for the parlor, Francey seems to be faced with the incor rect as-
while also juggling his courses as an Illustration major sumption that he is a deviant, tattooed troublemaker.
at RIT. Now, as a graduate, Francey is still kept on his As one who has a great respect for the tradition behind
toes as an artist for the more consultation-based White different kinds of tattoo art, it is often quite disappoint-
Tiger Tattoo Studio, located off West Ridge Road in ing for Francey to be met with such narrow-minded
downtown Rochester. cynicism. “There’s a richness there that is often over-
looked by the general public,” says Francey. “I was at
A s a n a r t i st , Fr a ncey prefer s to consu lt h i s cl i- Staples one time, waiting in line with my friend (who’s
ents to get a better idea of their vision for a tattoo. heavily tattooed, too). This old guy says, ‘If you had to
This avoids the ill-fated and commonly dreaded im- do it all over again, would you get a tattoo?’ I was like,
pulse to simply have a tattoo. “That’s good in a busi- ‘Yeah, I would.’ I even had this bum yell, ‘You’re going
ness sense, but I have to sleep at night,” says Francey. to burn in hell!’ at me.” Francey has learned to deal
Indeed, Francey seems to have his head on straight. with such reactions and face them positively: “They al-
Everything— from the supply tray to the chair one sits ready look at you like you’re some [monstrous] person,
upon— is carefully sterilized with each passing client, so why not prove them wrong?”
a process Francey says was an “easy habit” to get into,
once he understood the importance of hygeine. Aes- A f ter a l l t he se yea r s, however, F r a ncey i s st i l l
thetics play second ddle to health concerns by a long a s i nt r i g u e d b y t at t o o i n g a s h e w a s i n it i a l l y.
shot. “Even on the days when it feels like a job, it’s bet-
ter than any other job I could ever probably have.
As for the ideas of his clients, Francey says, “I’m not the You get to work with great people and do fun things all
fashion police. I’m not here to tell somebody that their day long,” says Francey. It’s also a way for Francey to
tattoo is stupid.” A major reason he prefers consulting practice the type of art he’s always been interested in,
with clients, however, is to be able to lend an artistic illustration. This is arguably dying out now, that dig-
helping hand. “As a tattoo artist, you’re the media- ital stock art has been made so readily available on
tor. People come to you with an idea, and are opening the Internet. As for his own future, Francey remarks,
up to you, in a way, and telling you what they want... “I want to tattoo for the rest of my life, but it would
It’s there forever, and they’re going to remember the be nice to try to do other things, such as in the ne
whole experience forever.” art world. I’ll eventually probably try to do ne art il-
lustration, or try to get into galleries... For the most
When Francey f irst star ted tattooing himself, he part, I pretty much picture myself tattooing forever.”
put a g reat deal of effort into desig ning them all, Does Francey have reason to regret any moment of his
each with a certain personal significance. Over the career? Not at all. Not since that rst maze of designs
years, however, his focus has shifted. He has become made its way to his skin, not since all he had was 17
more interested in the art and history of tattooing. years and a beginner’s tattoo kit to his name. •
“When people get tattoos, they always want this super
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