Black Tattoo Experience’s Creator Swiss Premium Talks To Think Before You Ink About Building A Brand That Amplifies Black Tattoo Artists
By Sidra Lackey
Black Tattoo Experience, consists of a collective of some of the most talented Black tattoo artists within the tattoo industry currently. This special collective strives to help ambitious tattoo artists take their craft to greater heights using tools and resources acquired at a Black Tattoo Experience conference. Black Tattoo Experience was created by skilled tattoo artist, Swiss Premium, of Black Ink in Brooklyn, New York. Black Tattoo Experience may be a new brand (established in 2021) but the collective is already making a big name for itself within the tattoo industry — drawing the likes of legendary Black tattoo artists to participate in its conferences such as: Miya Bailey and Jacci Gresham. Think Before You Ink had the pleasure of getting an exclusive interview with Swiss on the ins and outs of Black Tattoo Experience and what attendees of 2023’s Premier Tattoo Conference can expect.
Swiss Premium tells Think Before You Ink that Black Tattoo Experience spawned from, “Necessity.” He went on to say, “So many Black artists feel underrepresented or flat-out ignored when it comes to mainstream media covering the tattoo industry.” Think Before You Ink asked Swiss what is the focus of Black Tattoo Experience as well as, what the focus of the conferences are at BTE. “BTE serves to celebrate Black tattoo culture and amplify traditionally marginalized voices in the tattoo industry. The focus of our conference is to facilitate camaraderie and foster education by giving attendees access to high calibur artists and business professionals of great value,” Swiss explains.
Despite Black Tattoo Experience being a new brand within the tattoo industry, it has already accomplished important feats as Swiss breaks down: “Our network includes people of all walks of life and artists of all skill sets. We pride ourselves in our ability to not only bring people together but to manifest stimulating educational spaces.” He tells Think Before You Ink on the goals of Black Tattoo Experience in 2023, “Right now our goal is make sure our attendees in March have an excellent experience by following through on our pledge to provide valuable information and resources. In the future we look to facilitate experiences of many sorts and scale our community to include more people.”
Think Before You Ink wanted to know how Black Tattoo Experience goes about finding the gifted tattoo artists to build within the collective. Swiss simply says, “Most of our connections have occurred organically through referral or recommendation.” When asked, what if a non-Black artist wants to be a part of the collective? Are they still welcome to join? Swiss says, “Our platform was made to be a space of inclusion not exclusion. We welcome people of all backgrounds into our community with open arms.” He adds, “We encourage all artists to engage with our content and reach out with feedback. And if you have something you'd like to teach we'd be happy to provide the platform for it!”
Think Before You Ink picked Swiss’ brain on the vision for Black Tattoo Experience’s collective in the future and what impact does BTE hope to make in Black tattoo culture and the tattoo industry as a whole. “The possibilities are endless. We'd like to be at the forefront of tattoo education AND entertainment. The artists we work with are truly fascinating and influential beyond measure. We plan to document and celebrate that influence with integrity,” Swiss shares.
Black Tattoo Experience just wrapped up its latest conference in December 2022. Think Before You Ink questioned Swiss on how it compared to the first conference earlier last year. Swiss says, “It’s always a challenge starting a small business and organizing events. Luckily our initiative has attracted the support of some great people and we've been able to provide even more value to our community.”
Swiss agreed to give Think Before You Ink a sneak peek into Black Tattoo Experience 2023: “We've got some very special things in store for our attendees in 2023. Our show in Atlanta features a tattoo demonstration by Devonne Fowworth, a greatly revered artist out of Sacramento. Also, Ricky Havok will be hosting a live figure drawing session during our mixer, something we're especially excited for. Aside from our advertised presenters, we'll be having a slate of special guests in the building with the intention of pouring into the next generation of artists through meaningful engagement.”
Black Tattoo Experience 2023 will be held in Atlanta, Georgia from March 12-14. To register for general admission and VIP access to this exciting Premier Tattoo Conference that connects tattoo artists with some of the best tattooists in the tattoo industry: click here
You can follow Swiss Premium on IG @swiss.premium @blacktattooexperience for BTE updates.