Since I was in the seventh grade, I was interested in piercings and tattooes. I'd always been more into the strange piercings and body modifications than anything. I remember back in 8th grade when I did a project on sterile piercing shops in and around Columbus. That was when I was first introduced to the art of surface piercings.
At A Glance Author .kat. Contact XisetsfireX@aol.com Artist Nick Studio Evolved Location Columbus, Ohio When I turned 18, I decided to dedicate my life to the art of body modification. The day of my 18th birthday, I went to my best friend's shop and got my forearms tattooed, as well as my septum, nipples, and lip pierced. I also got my ears stretched to ½". A few months after that I'd look into the mirror, and I'd see a girl staring back at me...big blue eyes...blonde hair....and about a million piercings and more tattooes than she ever thought she'd have, but she still wanted something more.
It was around this time that I decided to look into surface piercings more deeply. I went in and around columbus to find a shop that seemed like the right place to go. I ended up at a shop called Evolved.
Upon entering the place, I walked up a narrow flight of stairs to be greeted by a friendly piercer who introduced himself as Nick. He asked me what I was interested in that day. I explained to him that I was contemplating whether or not to get a surface piercing done, and I asked him if he'd done any in the past, and if they were ritualistic or if they were in a shop. Nick kind of smirked and pulled out a binder from behind the counter. He told me, "just look at these". I opened the binder to find around a hundred pictures of Nick on a trip to Indonesia. He was standing with some tribesman that were very much modified in their looks. He had a few close ups of the different piercings that he did while he was over there. Half-way through my looking at his binder, he pulls out another one and hands it to me. I open this one to find shop pictures. I saw that Nick had actually done quite a few surface piercings in his time. I wasn't very surprized by this, though, due to the respectible aura that he gave off.
After I'd looked through both binders, front to back, Nick asked me what I thought. I told him that I was very impressed with his work. By this time, I was sure that this shop was the one that I wanted to go to. I told him that I wasn't getting this piercing done that day, but that I wanted to know all the information that I could before having it done. He explained to me that it is almost like a normal piercing, except the pain is a little different, and it takes a little longer to do. He said the healing process is a lot longer, and sometimes they reject, depending on where I was going to get it and how well I take care of it. I left soon after with excitement.
Three days later I decided that I was going to get this done. I waited until that Friday for my paycheck, and I went to my friend Nate's house to see if he'd drive me there. I had no clue how I'd react to such a strange feeling. I'd never felt it before, and I wanted to be safe. Nate agreed to come, and was actually just as excited as I was. The whole half hour drive there, I was scared to death. I talked the whole time about how my nerves were killing me and how I didn't know what it would be like and how much it would hurt. I'd always gotten piercings for the respect before...to show that I can take pain. The jewelry was just so that people knew. This seemed a little different. I liked the look, also...and I was more scared than ever before. In the back of my mind, I knew I'd go through with it.
Upon arriving to the shop, I was so scared that I made Nate wait for 10 minutes in the car with me until I got my nerves up. After doing so, we went inside.
As I sat in the chair, Nick had a heartwarming smile on his face. He assured me it would be okay. He said that he had a different way of piercing than most shops. He explained to me that instead of using a regular needle, he used an IV needle. He'd put the needle in, but pull out the actual needle part so that there was just the plastic holder inside of me with two ends sticking out. He'd put the jewelry through that all the way and then pull it out. He said it was better because it was flexible, and there's no way to miss the follow through. I was excited. I'd decided to get my surface piercing done on my neck. It was a 1 ½ inch barbell that I chose, which Nick said was pretty long. I sat backwards in the chair and took some deep breaths.
Nick marked me with Indian ink and clamped me, and within two seconds, the needle was already through. He pulled the actual needle out and put the jewelry through. He said I'd feel a slight pinch while taking out the plastic holder, which I did, but after less than a minute, I had my newest, most admired piercing, and I was happy.
My nape piercing was a great experience for me. I didn't understand why I was so worried about it. I actually liked the pain that I received because of the after affect, and because of the respect that I get for going through it. Nick was a wonderful coach through the whole thing, also. My nape healed up perfect, and I never had a single problem with it. I've had it in for about 8 months now, and it's doing very well. I wouldn't take this experience away for anything.