Matthew Dunn: Old Glory Tattoo
I traveled down to Asbury Park to meet up with Matt Dunn who not only graciously agreed to be interviewed but he tattooed me that day as well.
K: So my first question is, why don't you introduce yourself? What is your background on how you got started? And then, why did you want to get into tattooing?
M: Okay, cool yeah. My name is Matt and I have been tattooing professionally for six years. I have pretty much done art for as long as I can remember. I remember drawing in kindergarten and my teacher encouraged me to do that, my parents were encouraging for me to do that. So I pursuit art through out elementary school into high school. And I knew that when I was getting ready to go to college that I wanted to major in Art, so I majored in Art and did a lot of paintings and drawings in college.
It was in college that I got really interested in tattooing...I got a couple tattoos [then]. It was after getting my second tattoo at a convention that I decided that I wanted to be a tattoo artist. After college, I had a Bachelors in Fine Arts degree and there is not much you can really do with that; it's not a very practical degree to have. So a couple of my friends suggested that I start getting serious about tattooing. So I researched on how to go about doing that and I got an apprenticeship and did that for a couple years. I apprenticed in D.C at the time but I am originally from the MidWest.
K: Wow, that's awesome! So, when you first started tattooing, how did it make you feel? What was the sensation that you got when you first started?
M: I guess nervous; a lot of nervousness. It's a very serious endeavor to permanently alter someone's skin. But it was also really cool at the same time to be knowing that I would have such an impact on a lot of people...to permanently alter the way that they look.
K: Do you still get nervous now?
M: Yeah, I definitely still get nervous now. Especially if I feel like it's something that is going to be challenging for me. But it is definitely less than it used to be.
K: A lot of people traditionally, if they need help with something or going through a hard time, would go to regular therapy; just to talk it out with someone. Do you believe that art therapy could be a way that could heal someone instead of going to traditional therapy?
M: I don't know if I would necessarily say that you shouldn't go to a traditional therapist but I would definitely say that if you need help from a professional, seek out a therapist for sure. But I do feel like tattooing can serve therapeutic purposes. I have seen people where, the act of getting tattooed can be therapeutic; some people enjoy the sensation of it. And it can be kind of cathartic to get a tattoo.
K: Do you know of a personal story where it was therapeutic?
M: Yeah, so I wouldn't say that the act of getting tattooed isn't therapeutic but the end product. Cause one way that I can view tattooing is that the finished product can serve like a talisman. Sort of, warding off bad stuff, spirits or whatnot. One woman that I tattooed kept having a reoccurring nightmare that her teeth were falling off. So she wanted me to tattoo this bloody tooth on her wrist; and so I did. And after, the dreams stopped.
K: Really??
M: Yeah!
K: That is so interesting. So basically, not for every tattoo but for some tattoos, it can be a very emotional experience.
M: Definitely, yeah. Especially if say you are getting a memorial tattoo, something to commemorate someone, even to commemorate an experience in your life. Say you're getting a Harry Potter tattoo and you just love Harry Potter and you're so committed to it. It's the realization, this thing that you really like, you're making it a part of yourself.
K: Is there anything that you wanted to mention about art therapy or just tattooing in general or how you feel about it?
M: Tattooing is great. It's really an essential component of being human. Going back in history to the development of humans as a species and people as a culture...it's the oldest preserved human remains. There is a man who was the oldest preserved man who had tattoos. So it is something that I feel like it's something that people need to do, decorate themselves. It's a part of the human experience.
K: Awesome. Thank you, Matt.
M: Thank you, Kiki.
