Winooski tattooist Lauren Riegelman knows how to make a mark
Winooski tattooer, Lauren Riegelman, at her recently opened studio, Privateyez Studio, in Burlington. Photo by Winooski-based photographer, Hillary Dubie.
Lauren Riegelman, a Winooski tattoo artist, believes tattoos are an expression of self-love, body positivity, and often - a stamp of resilience.
"We love parts of ourselves, or we don't love parts of our bodies, and we are maybe culturally conditioned to feel a certain way about a space on our body that we don't care for," Riegelman said. "I'm really interested in showing people that their bodies are beautiful. Through my art, in combination with the tattoo, it gives you permission to love that part of yourself again."
Riegelman, a born and raised Vermonter, has been tattooing professionally for over four years, but her artistic journey started long before that. She grew up going to New York museums with her aunts.
"Coming from a very small town in Vermont, that was my access to culture," Riegelman said. "Seeing all these amazing artists at the Met, the Whitney, definitely influenced me a lot, as to the spectrum, the scale, and the span of what was possible in art."
After graduating from Maine College of Art & Design in 2007 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drawing and painting, Riegelman moved to Portland, Oregon. It was here that she was introduced to the tattoo culture.
"I never really knew that I wanted to pursue it as a career," Riegelman said. "I had friends that were in the industry already, legitimately owning or working at shops. The culture always had some air of mystery and intrigue to me."
Riegelman was gifted a small tattoo kit from a friend of a friend, and the rest was history. She moved back to Vermont in 2017, where she started a year-long apprenticeship at Fortune Teller Tattoo.
Now operating her own studio in Burlington’s Soda Plant, a collective space for artists, Riegelman works predominantly in blackwork, typically using black ink instead of color.
"I do love color, but I love the aesthetic of high contrast, bold, blackwork.”
Riegelman draws a lot of inspiration for her work from the surrealist art movement, which explores unconsciousness, fantasy, and infuses elements of surprise into ordinary scenes.
"Almost grotesque meets beautiful, this kind of dichotomy between them, to the strange and normal," Riegelman said.
Being from Vermont plays an important role in Riegelman's art. As a child, she spent a lot of time outside, where her connection and appreciation for the natural world originated.
"Growing up in the woods and, kind of, in these imaginary worlds, well, I created my own reality," Riegelman said.
Yet, the most powerful inspiration comes from her clients’ life experiences. She often works with clients who have self-harm scars or who are dealing with loss or trauma. Their tattoos symbolize strength.
"It's not all about looking cool, although that's a nice little bonus," Riegelman said. "I think it is some form of therapy or a kind of reconciling with troubling issues in people's lives. In a world that feels very chaotic, I think it can really be a nice reclamation of the body for oneself and give the person a little bit of control over how they are seen or represented in the world."
In addition to tattooing, Riegelman is interested in signage, mural work, design, and illustration. Her artwork can be found throughout the Burlington area, including the door of Mule Bar in Winooski and, most recently, a restroom at Burlington Beer Company (BBCO).
"I decided to do an ASL, American Sign Language, alphabet, and "BBCO" in big hands with, like, pointy finger fingertips," Riegelman said.
More opportunities like these are on the horizon for Riegelman. She will be collaborating with BBCO on an artist series and with Marigold House, an up-and-coming community space in Winooski for People of the Global Majority.
"I'm still going to be tattooing, but I'm envisioning that happening a little less and working on some larger design projects and stuff that is a little bit more community art-oriented," Riegelman said.
Riegelman believes public art projects such as these are essential to community wellbeing and connectedness.
"I think that art and aesthetics are arguably like, one of the things that affect us the most in day-to-day life," Riegelman said. "It brings us pleasure and joy and happiness, and it's something that we maybe look past sometimes, that we don't even realize, but I think it's very therapeutic."
Building community through collaborative art – whether that be tattoos or murals – is Riegelman's sweet spot.
"I just really feel like this community is so much more powerful and strong than I ever could have imagined," said Riegelman. "And I think that's what we really need right now."
To learn more about Riegelman and her art, visit her website and follow Privateyez on Instagram.
This story is part of TWN’s Winooski Artist Series. Know an artist that lives or works in Winooski and would be open to an interview? Email us at news@thewinooskinews.com.