caleb blansett he/they
FOR THE SINNERS
@penancetattoo
books open December 15th via newsletter
"lil bit of life story:
or at least some of the relevant bits.
for a large part of my childhood my parents were southern baptist missionaries. Subsequently we lived in various parts of the united states and Africa, eventually settling down in MO.
after that fun ol’ “50% of marriages end this way” I was raised by my mother as one of three siblings.
growing up in Missouri was not always easy, and I find myself saying the catchphrase “Missouri but pronounced Misery” quite often. The truth of the matter is that life is hard. hahah, and the hard parts of life were certainly not relegated to MO.
growing up religiously has had a large role in who I am not, certainly not religious by any means, but holding a deep respect for the power of stories and the general levels of fucked up that humanity is. You know what i’m talking about if you’ve read the old testament.
I went to college at Bennington in VT, which is where my child like wonderment was tempered into a cautious nihilism with a dash of cynicism & exhaustion.
I jest, but not really.
throughout my entire life I’ve been obsessed with the art of story telling, and in my free time I’m usually devouring books, movies, and games that have strong world building elements in them. i’m not sure how this connects, but it’s a big part of who i am so here it is.
I like to think that the types of tattoos I like to create are influenced by the various tribal elements found in fantasy and science fiction. Whether it be the mantras of the Mechanicum, warrior markings, ritualism of pain, spell etching, the power of true names, intimidation etc. I’m also sure that spending a large part of my childhood in rural Africa has something to do with it too. For millennium humans have used the markings in our skins to weave the fiction that is our identity into our psyche. I am who I tell myself I am, I am who I create myself to be.
I am here to explore the possibilities of these fictions we weave into our futures. I am here to explore the ritual of pain. I am here to say that being alive is exhausting, but tattoos make it a little easier.
I believe originality never really existed and that people were better before such sad ideas existed. I believe ego will be the death of us all. I believe respect is always critical. I’m not sure whether or not it’s more important to follow the bliss or the blister.
But seriously if you’ve read the Black Company by Glen Cook, the Engineer Series by KJ Parker, or the Otherland Series by Tad Williams then we can probably see eye to eye.
I’m currently living and working in Brooklyn, NY"
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