HOULTON, Maine — A Lincoln tattoo artist, who is opening a new studio in downtown Houlton, intends to honor and preserve the cultural practice of body marking and its lineage.
For Kas Leeman, who currently lives in Dedham and tattoos at DNA in Lincoln, there is a story in every tattoo.
“My art is who I am,” they said. “Tattoos are not just permanent because of the mark they leave on people; their mark on the world is permanent.”
The 13 Court St. studio, Anciently Marked Tattoo Art Studio, shares an entrance with the Tulgey Wood Emporium and is the former home of Crowe Tattoos, now located on Water Street in Houlton. It is slated for a grand opening on March 20.
Pointing to the ancestral roots of the art form, Leeman said that people have been creating tattoos and other forms of marking or modifications of their bodies for thousands of years for reasons that include cultural rites of passage, protection, markings of warriors in battle, declarations of love, therapeutic applications and social status markers.
There is some debate about the timing of the earliest known tattoos, but they have been found on mummies from many cultures. In 1991, Ötzi the Iceman, a 5,300-year-old frozen mummy, was discovered with 61 tattoos after his heavily inked body was excavated, according to the Smithsonian Institute.
“These deep meanings are how I connect back to myself and my ancestors,” Leeman said.
While there are several other tattoo shops in the Aroostook County town, Leeman does not see that as a problem because everyone has different styles that connect with clients.
is opening, Anciently Marked, in historic downtown Houlton in March.
(Courtesy of Kas Leeman)
Once relegated to back alley shops and a subculture appeal, tattoos have become mainstream in the past few decades, with a third of adult Americans donning at least one tattoo, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey.
But with this change, Leeman has noticed a slight slip in the integrity and creativity of tattooing as it moves it from a cultural practice to an industry.
“I’m trying to combat that by really holding on to its roots of being a custom artform,” the 25-year-old said. “Everything I create is a one-of-one creation. And everything I create has a special intention behind it.”
Leeman is pagan, and their beliefs and work are interchangeable, they said.
“Everything I do at this point is with extreme intention,” they added.
This move to Houlton brings Leeman back home. And along with husband Matt Leeman, manager of the soon-to-open 207 Collectibles, also on Court Street, the couple is moving into a generational home on land in Amity.
Leeman’s artistic journey began at six or seven while drawing a fruit bowl along with their mother. By fifth grade, becoming a tattoo artist was at the top of the career list, and by high school graduation, it was certain.
“My parents heavily encouraged me to pursue college even though by that point I was definitely set on tattooing,” Leeman said. “I went to UMPI [University of Maine Presque Isle], taking all art classes until starting a tattoo apprenticeship.”
Over the past five years, Leeman has accumulated a lot of knowledge and experience by working in different shops, developing an illustrative and fine art style over time.
Working in both black and grey, and color, Leeman brings in multiple techniques such as stippling, a process that uses dots and marks to shade areas and form an image.
A favorite technique is bringing flat art like logos or the breast cancer ribbon to life by creating permanent body stickers.
“I love doing those, I can stickerfy anything,” they said, adding that the sticker is created with a paper thin outline and a light border. “It adds a layer of dynamic to flat images. It brings them to life and they pop off the skin.”
Anciently Marked will be open from about 12 to 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday and most work will be by appointment only. Leeman charges flat rates, and the shop minimum is $100 for simple line work. It’s $300 for a small session that might be for a three-by-three tattoo with one color. Rates will go up from there.
The shop space will not only be a tattoo shop; it will also offer artistic outreach for the community.
“I want a place that gives all people of all identities to know that as long as they are of a good heart, they are welcome in my space,” Leeman said.
