Joy Markus (they/them) - Berlin - 2022 @thisisjoyjessica

I first met Joy when living so very far apart and both tattooing (they reached out to me about a guest spot and we had a phone call and a tea). The world shut down soon after and our connection turned into a long distance mentorship dynamic (as they have been mentoring others and holding space in Johannesburg for BIPOC fems and queers @ustheythemstudio).

Somehow I missed that we both were raised very rural and were influenced by punk, skateboarding, and hard drugs. (Big city kids in the making for sure). Joy’s patterns resonated with me right away (they also choose to work by hand with the body and are very much trauma informed).

I sincerely appreciate dear friends making time to engage in this project together (somehow this container deepens my sense of our connections).

Thank you!