Julia 子雅 (she/her) is a queer Taiwanese-American and midwest native, who has been handpoke tattooing for over six years. She is fully self-taught, and learned to tattoo by practicing on friends and family. Raised in close connection to the outdoors, Julia’s work is heavily inspired by found nature objects and her desire to navigate her Asian-American diasporic identity through tattoo work.

Julia finds joy in tattooing objects collected from the natural world, such as sticks, leaves, rocks, or wildflowers. She also feels drawn to subject matter that evokes nostalgia, and likes to work with objects found at specific places or moments in life. She specializes in fineline minimalism and patchwork compositions.

In her practice, Julia strives to create a safe and empowered space for everybody, deeply valuing open communication, informed consent, and a trauma-informed approach to client relationships. Her practice revolves around being gentle and honest, and these are also the reasons why she continues to love the handpoke, or machine-free, method. She is honored to share her art through the ancient and body-affirming practice of tattooing.

Julia graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with a BFA in graphic design in 2023, and transitioned into tattooing full-time from her private studio that spring. After working solo in Bloomington, Indiana for 3 years, Julia traveled west to Fort Collins, Colorado to begin work as a resident artist of Witch of the West tattoo collective.