There’s a growing concern within the body modification community: studios are increasingly being run by individuals with no first-hand experience in piercing or tattooing. These are people who’ve never held a machine, never performed a piercing, and never spent time immersed in the culture—yet they position themselves as gatekeepers of an art form they’ve never practiced.

This shift raises serious questions about authenticity, safety, and respect. Piercing is not a trend to capitalize on. It is a sacred craft rooted in anatomy, hygiene, and precision—none of which can be faked or improvised. When tattoo artists attempt to train piercers without proper knowledge, it’s not mentorship. It’s malpractice. The stakes are high, and the consequences of inadequate training can be permanent.

Piercing is both an art and a science. It demands years of study, practice, and lived experience. To reduce it to a profit-driven add-on is to fundamentally misunderstand its value. Yet many studios now operate under business models that treat artists as interchangeable labour, offering them “a chair” as if that alone constitutes support.

Let’s be clear: the artists are the studio. Without them, a shop is just an empty room with a neon sign. The culture wasn’t built by spreadsheets—it was built by hands, by scars, and by a deep commitment to craft.

Respecting this culture means understanding it. It means investing in proper training, honouring the lineage of the work, and recognizing that ownership of a business does not equate to ownership of the art or the artists who create it.

Piercing deserves better. The community deserves better. And it’s time we demand it.

Article supplied by © John Wayne Stevens