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Jun 19, 2023

New tattoo exhibition shines light on Fremantle prison culture

It was illicit and it was unsafe. But the tattooing of Fremantle Prison inmates

It was illicit and it was unsafe. But the tattooing of Fremantle Prison inmates by other prisoners was as much a display of creativity as it was an act of defiance.

It has also left its mark on the social history of the port city and is part of a new exhibition that opened at the weekend as part of the 10-day Fremantle Heritage Festival.

The Skin Sin exhibition is based on the collection of local tattoo artist, collector and historian Ricky Luder and includes a display of some of the illicit work done by the prisoners.

Fremantle Prison curator Olimpia Cullity said about two in five inmates generally received at least one tattoo while they were in prison.

She said tattooing in prisons was sometimes used as a "proto-language".

For example, some tattoos on the hands and face denoted a specific event or membership in a prison gang. Ms Cullity said there was a significant difference between "professional" and "prison" tattoos.

"While professional tattooists appropriately trace design templates on to the skin, prison tattoos are usually drawn free-hand," she said.

"One way of applying a prison tattoo was hand-plucking, where a sewing or hypodermic needle was repeatedly dipped in ink and stuck on the skin until a line was achieved.

"Often this form of prison tattoo was self-administered.

"More sophisticated application techniques for prison tattoos usually involved the use of an improvised rotary machine.

"Rotary machines were often made by prisoners using a motor taken from whatever appliance was available, such as a cassette recorder, an electric razor or an electric toothbrush.

"It was then connected to a guitar string or sewing needle, which vibrates up and down the barrel of a ball point pen."

One former prisoner who will figure in the Skin Sin exhibition is local tattoo artist Bobby Thornton. Thornton, who died in 2009, decorated his prison cells with big, colourful tattoo-like drawings.

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