While the first thing you may notice about Ryan Ashley is that she is painfully beautiful to look at, don’t let that stop you from recognizing the absolute unit of an artist that she is. She’s a Pennsylvania native, an erstwhile New Yorker, and a current resident of Grand Junction, CO and Elysium Studios. She made her education at FIT in New York City as a fashion designer specializing in embroidery, beadwork, and lace applications the cornerstone of her signature style of tattoo art.
She has developed a corner of the tattoo world completely her own. As an artist in this field, finding a niche so underdeveloped and powerful in its complexity/innovation is unusual and remarkable to say the least.
She parlayed her charm and television-ready self into a competitor spot on Ink Master, the long-running and incredibly entertaining tattoo arts reality show. She became such a sensation on that show that she’s appeared in multiple seasons and spin-offs. She has been such a point of fascination in that world as to co-host Ink Master: Angels and now sits as a judge on another spin-off, Ink Master: Grudge Match.
She’s just the bee’s knees. Pure and simple. A joy to talk to and an artist with skills to be reckoned with. She is co-hosting the Richmond Tattoo & Arts Convention coming up this weekend.
Check out my previous article HERE with more information on highlights of the events and for the official website’s schedule HERE.
Christian Detres: What a pleasure to meet you!
Ryan Ashley: Nice to meet you, too!
CD: What are your expectations and history with the Richmond Tattoo Convention?
RA: I’ve spent the last eight years attending and being featured in tattoo conventions all over the country. I have since started doing conventions all over the world. Every convention has its own personality, its own feeling, its own vibe. Tattooing has become such a celebrated part of culture that conventions are getting crazy. They’re getting modernized and really specific.
Of all the conventions I have traveled to, Richmond has always been one that has the best of everything but still keeps the heart and soul of what it was when it began. I love the Richmond convention first and foremost because of how well the community has treated me as an artist. With all of the commercialization happening with conventions, we forget that the point of these is to bring artists together. Jesse Smith‘s taking over the Richmond convention prioritized making artists feel at home. He feeds us, takes care of us, and makes sure we have everything we need.
Richmond is such a good convention because there’s not just tattooing—there’s live painting, live artwork, sideshows, awesome vendors for jewelry, traditional art, and music—all of these cool things in such an awesome, close-knit atmosphere.
I was going through the list of the artists coming this year, trying to pick out some of the superstars, you know, to talk about. As I’m going through the list, my jaw has been dropping. I’m co-hosting this thing, and I can’t believe we managed to get all of this talent in one place. 2024 is going to be one of the strongest conventions in the United States. The roster is crazy this year.
CD: Is there anyone showing up this time that you haven’t gotten to meet yet, that you’re looking forward to?
RA: It’s going to be kind of like a wedding for me this year, because it’s all of my favorite people that I’ve collected throughout my tattoo career, being in one room at the same time. It’s going to be like a big, crazy, overwhelming reunion of everyone I love in the industry in one room at the same time.
CD: That’s awesome. I’m happy for you. Have you ever gotten to experience Richmond outside of the convention? To take advantage of just taking the city in, taking in any of the music or culture?
RA: I’ve had a little bit of experience in Richmond, not as much as I would like. Usually when I come down there, I’m in convention mode. But I know that the time that I’ve spent in Richmond, it’s really cool. It’s an artsy little city, isn’t it?
CD: Yeah, it’s pretty, it’s quirky. There is a particular charm to it, especially within your field. Within the tattoo world, this place has had a potent reputation for decades. Which would be commensurate with having the Tattoo Convention here since 1988.
RA: Jesse gave me a long history lesson when I first started falling in love with this convention, and he told me that Richmond is actually the very first convention. It’s the oldest tattoo convention in the United States. It’s the original. And it didn’t start as a convention.
I don’t know if you know the history of this, but tattooing was illegal there in 1988. Artists used to come together and share knowledge, techniques, and stuff, and it just grew and grew. It was more of a get-together than a convention, and that, in itself, has earned the Richmond convention a spot deep in the mythology of the craft.
It didn’t start off trying to be fancy, trying to be crazy, trying to be cool. It started with the art and artists hanging out together sharing new work. That’s the heart of this convention. I think that’s the coolest part about it. Richmond has retained that sense of heart with this convention.
CD: Yeah, I think it’s hard to hard to do anything artistically in Richmond without involving so many other disciplines, because there’s just so much of it here. Like, for instance, with the convention, you have muralists making live art for charity, right?
RA: Jesse reserves this whole outdoor section on the outside of the convention center with music and food trucks – and there’s always live art going on. There’s large scale painting and everything going on outside the hotel. And then there’s two levels of tattooing and vendors inside the hotel.
CD: Very cool. Would you be doing any live tattooing there at the convention?
RA: I’m actually giving away a little tattoo on Sunday. There is some sort of raffle that we’re organizing going on with ticket holders, and somebody’s going to win a little flash tattoo on Sunday. Usually I tattoo Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but since I’m co-hosting this year, it’s going to be hard for me to be in two places at once. This is the first year I’m only going to tattoo on Sunday.
CD: I often find that there’s a threshold when you get really good at something, and then you get really famous for being really good at something, the less time you have to do that something that you’re really good at, right? As an artist, that kind of takes you out of the studio and in front of a camera. How is that journey for you? How’s that impacted your ability to feel fully expressed as an artist, or do you take that time for yourself? If you do, how do you manage the balance of the two things?
RA: So I’m actually struggling with that at the moment. I’ve tattooed less in the last six months than I have in a long time. I feel very grateful for the opportunities I’ve had. I wouldn’t take it back for any reason. But it is—it’s killing me, yeah. I’ve got so much that I want to express artistically, and I’m having less and less time to be the artist that I am.
It feels like my artistic brain stops, and all of the artists around you keep spinning. You watch them develop, and you watch them express themselves. And for me, at least, I start to develop imposter syndrome because I’m surrounded by these incredible artists doing this amazing work. I’ve got my coworkers, and even all the contestants this last season of Ink Masters—they blow my mind.
It makes me feel like I want to get back in there. I want to get back in the ring. Because the only reason I’m in the position that I’m in now is because of tattooing. It’s brought me here in art. So the less time I get to spend with that, the more it eats at me.
CD: I can only imagine. I know you came from the fashion world, and you were working successfully in embroidery, which obviously comes through with your specific style. You appreciate texture and textiles, repeating patterns, and all of that stuff. Was there a significant leap between working with fabric versus replicating the feel and texture of that fabric on human skin? Did you find that eureka moment between illustrating your ideas in a fashion context, and then thinking “Oh, my God, this would look great as a tattoo!” Could you tell me how you bridged the gap between two things?
RA: When I worked in fashion, it was about designing bodies, right? And by bodies, I mean shape, fit, and cut. I was the in-house artist, a design associate for the company. I would get a jacket—say, they gave me a jean jacket—and they’d be like, “The buyer wants some sort of swirly lacework pattern coming down the right arm, but we want it to fit this way and flow this way…” So my job was to utilize the tools I was given, the flow, and the feeling the customer requested to create some cool, organic shape on the garment that accentuated curves or features to create that illusion on the body.
In translating that into tattooing, I just took the garment out of it. You know, it was easy when it came to designing because you still want that same aesthetic, the same flow. It’s still the same anatomical curves and features. It’s just a different medium that you’re putting it on.
I felt it was way easier with tattooing, because instead of working with a buyer that was requesting something for 10,000 stores, you’re working with a buyer who’s requesting something extremely custom to their own body and their specific anatomy. The personalization of each design meant so much more—it was infinitely more intimate.
CD: Have there been any particular pieces that you’ve done that are memorable to you, not just that you impressed yourself with how well you did it, but just the whole scenario around it? Whether it was the person that you’re doing it on, or the scenario in your own life, any anecdotal memories that stand out to you as being watershed moments for you?
RA: Anytime I do a mastectomy cover-up, I try to volunteer a day or two of my time to create something meaningful. These are always the most impactful and the most important tattoos because these women who have had breast cancer have had to go through, first of all, the cancer itself, and secondly, the surgery to remove the cancer. The third part of that process is dealing with their new sense of self after the surgery.
Such a large part of their identity seems to be taken from them, right? It’s not the beauty of the tattoo that gets me every time. It’s the ability for these women to take back control and choose what they want their body to look like—what will make them feel more beautiful, more feminine, or like a better version of themselves.
Helping these women take back that power and control, helping them feel differently and better about themselves, is such a powerful, therapeutic, fulfilling feeling. It’s unlike any other type of tattoo. Tattooing transcends body art at that point and becomes a powerful tool for restoring identity.
CD: I can only imagine how that must feel. Could you speak to the sense of generational legacy in the tattoo world? I have seen tattoo artists that I’ve been friends with for 20 something years, Jesse I’ve known for 21, grow up, become parents and then have this culture to pass down to a new generation. Could you speak to how that maybe makes you feel when you walk the halls of the convention?
RA: So Jesse’s son is only a month older than my son, Atheus, so I can speak on this as being a mom as well. I think the coolest thing about bringing children to a convention like this, or exposing kids to culture like this, is the fact that he’s surrounded by tattoo artists all the time. We have guest artists around constantly—international artists, speaking every language, of every ethnicity, every religion, from all over the world. It’s such a cool diversity.
No matter what your beliefs are, no matter where you’re from, everyone there has something in common, right? We all share one love of tattooing and body art. We all share this respect for how incredible this industry is. I love the idea of kids being exposed to such a diverse group of people.
It’s really amazing that kids get to come see people coming together, laughing, and creating art. Anytime art is being done and creation is happening—people working with their hands, people working on each other—it’s a beautiful environment.
CD: I never thought of it that way, but yeah, that’s true.
RA: I really think that tattooing brings families and friends together. It brings artists together. Bringing kids around this culture and exposing them to, you know, six foot four, fully tattooed, burly biker dudes that are the sweetest, most adorable, coolest people – I think it gives kids a really cool, well rounded perspective on humanity. To never judge a book by its cover, and to always be open to, you know, anybody, any type of person.
CD: I agree. The word community gets thrown around like a cheap baseball sometimes. I was at River City Tattoo just last week, and there was a barbershop quality to the experience. Sometimes you’re in there not even getting a tattoo, but the social club aspect of it is always present. They’re not spaces that are wholly transactional. It’s not just a commercial space. There’s culture and belonging there.
RA: It’s like record stores in the 90s! You go to hang out with your friends or check out cool shit people are producing. It’s like watching Cheers.
CD: Perfect analogy. Pure emotional syrup.. Hm, this just popped in my head, but, was there a particular moment when you finished a tattoo that you just did, and you realized, “holy shit, I’m really good at this”?. Like, “I’m reeeeally good at this.” Like, internationally famous good at this. We all want to be humble, but when did you realize that you had a gift that could be appreciated the way that you’re appreciated?
RA: I’ve never felt that when it comes to technical ability, because there are so many artists that can tattoo circles around me. I think the thing that’s been special about me is that I found my little void in the industry and took advantage of it. There was a lack of feminine, intricate, delicate tattoos being promoted as popular. When I started, there was no one focusing on a feminine style. Even female tattooers coming into our industry were trained to do masculine styles that the market wanted, instead of trying to carve their own path. Not all of them, but most had to keep up with what the market was demanding.
A lot of them missed the fact that there were plenty of women who wanted tattoos that reflected something softer, more intricate, and feminine. I found that need in the industry pretty early on.
Just last week, actually, I finished a tattoo. I think it was the fourth session of this tattoo, but I started it about a year and a half ago. She came in for her final session, and I was just going to do a little touch-up, you know, after a year and a half—make it all sparkly and perfect. But I ended up working on her tattoo for 10 hours. I redid the whole thing.
As I was doing it, I realized that in a year and a half, the way I tattoo has changed. I recognized an improvement in my technique, in my skill, and in my knowledge. It was a cool moment to witness my own progress.
When it comes to physically tattooing on the skin, there are tattooers that are absolute monsters. I can’t wrap my head around how these legends do what they do. As an example, I could never do what Jesse does.
CD: yeah. Well, I’ve been, you know, I’m sure that this, people say the same thing when they look at your work, too.
RA: I would love for Jesse to take a swing at what I do. We could have a good laugh. You know, there’s never a time where you’re ever “at the top”. It’s all opinion and inspiration in the moment. Appreciation strikes at will.
CD: The most beautiful thing about art is that it’s subjective. It would be awful if there was a way to rank people, like, “They’re the best. This one’s second, this is third place…” none of that matters. None of it matters, which contributes to the communal joy where everybody’s bringing in their own talents. Is there anything in particular that you’re looking forward to at this convention? That is that you’re just kind of giddy, excited about, when you finally make your way here?
RA: Oh my god, there’s a lot of things. First of all, seeing all of those incredible artists in one room is going to be crazy. It’s going to feel like the Oscars. Also, I can’t stop thinking about last year, Jesse had this event go on the main stage. I think it was Saturday night. It was probably eight or nine o’clock at night, like, alright, things may get a little crazy if you have little ones. You might want to take them home before all this, haha. Foul language time, you know. It was cage match karaoke.
CD: Oh, I’m definitely doing that this year.
RA: I was laughing so hard that I had to stand up, take my gloves off, and watch what was happening. It was hilarious.
CD: What’s your karaoke song?
RA: It used to be “Dragula” by Rob Zombie. Recently it’s been more “I Miss You” by Lisa Loeb,
CD: Oh, really? Well, that’s some range. Well, listen, I want to wrap it up a little bit. I’m gonna be interviewing Jessie Smith this afternoon. Anything you’d like me to throw in as a gotcha question for Jesse to fuck him up a little bit? Like a “what the hell are you asking me?” sorta question.
RA: Ask him “why is Ryan Ashley the most efficient, responsible, forward thinking, never tardy, co-host you’ve ever had?” All those things are untrue, every single one. I’m the biggest pain in the ass.
CD: Yeah, well, you know it takes all kinds. I’m glad to have you here. We’re really excited to have you in Richmond, of course, as always. And, you know, try to make some time when you come down here, when it’s not convention time and go do some actual karaoke somewhere. And you know, where people aren’t expecting you to trip over and fall or not hit a note or something, just to be funsies.
RA: I don’t get embarrassed very easily. Maybe that’ll be the test, the ultimate test.
CD: Word. Well, it’s been a pleasure meeting you. I look forward to seeing you at the convention and you take care and good luck with everything.
Main photo by Amber Mannon
