GENESIS WEBB

extended coverage of our exclusive interview with stylist Genesis Webb, i2 2024 Cover Star.

Interview by Azra Schorr

Photography by Ryan Petrus

Hair by Takayuki Umeda

Makeup by Cassandra Lee

Nails by Juan Alvear

A tattoo enthusiast and creative force, Genesis Webb covers DECAL MAGAZINE’s second issue. After an incredible year on the road styling for Chappell Roan, Genesis has made a name for herself. We met up in Times Square to dive into her love for the artistry, backseat stick and pokes, and what’s next for her career.

Okay, so the first question is, um, kind of an easy one. What's your name? 

Genesis. 

Okay, and where are you from? 

Uh, I was born in Phoenix, and then I grew up in Oklahoma City.

Cool, and what do you do?  

I'm a fashion stylist. 

Okay. Okay, and what's your sign, or your big three, if you know it? 

Yeah, my big three are all Libra. 

So when did you first start getting tattooed, and did you always know that you wanted tattoos? 

Um, I don't know. I think I started out, I did the, the rookie mistake where I had a concept and I went to a tattoo shop and I was like, how much would this be?

And they were like $1,200.00. And I was like…see you later. And then I went to the tattoo shop next door and I was like, can you do this for 300? And they said yeah.  So I sat down for my first session. It was my thigh tattoo, I did the first session in four hours. And then like my thigh was shaking and I was like, okay, I think this is done now. And then I never went back because I hated it so much.

It's still just like unfinished. I just didn't, it just wasn't what I wanted. I didn't give them the second chance of finishing the tattoo. So it's an unfinished, so it's not fair to them to, to fully, you know.

But anyway, so I did that rookie mistake and then I started only going to artists where I liked their work and that was, and it was all younger artists like from Instagram. Some of them didn't even work in shops. And so I think it's definitely traveled. All the tattoos I have are kind of all different styles, in a way, but I think at the root of it all is just like, the like, younger artists, like younger tattoo artists. Yeah, that kind of made their own  way.

Is being tattooed connected to your personal or your fashion style? 

I think it is now. Definitely. I think I’ve always used it as armor. I grew up in a place where I was getting a lot of, like when I was younger, a lot of male attention from a lot of older men and it disgusted me so much. And it just like never stopped, like, as a lot of women, young women experience. So, um, it was just one of those things where like, the more tattoos I got, the more I saw men kind of look away or like look in a different way, like in disgust. And so that was like, the scarier tattoos I got, the more unconventional, the more protection. 

“the scarier tattoos I got… the more protection.” 

Interesting. 

Yeah. So I think I used it there. Then was my early twenties, when I actually kind of entered into the fashion industry. Not a lot of people in this industry have tattoos. So instead I stuck out and then it was not armor anymore. A lot of people really love a lot of my tattoos and they're just kind of like accessories at this point. 

Yeah, totally. I'm not sure if it's ever come up for you, but like, has tattoo ever somehow influenced or come into your styling work? 

I mean, I'd always been into clothes, but I think tattoos were the first time that I looked at, like, true artists, because I wasn't really into runway and designer. With tattoos, it was like I sought after artists I saw. I was really versed on what styles were coming up, even if they didn't have names yet. I was really into the culture of like just like new wave tattooing, and so I think in a way it was kind of the first aesthetic and artists based interest that I had even prior to fashion. It's very much rooted there. So I think there's an aesthetic that I'm naturally drawn to and it kind of morphs through time, but I feel like it's all collective together. So I, I don't know if I could say like a direct correlation, but definitely in the DNA for sure.

That's really cool. And for you, do you find your tattoos to be meaningful or do you personally just kind of choose more on like, “I just like how this looks”, or maybe it's a blend. 

I think it's a blend. There's definitely a couple of tattoos that are more meaningful, like some matching tattoos I've gotten with friends or partners were meaningful. 

It’s all through the artist though, because I feel like it's such a transferal of energy, getting a tattoo from an artist. You really are having a moment with that tattoo artist, even if it's only one tattoo you get from them, that relationship is very specific. And I'm sure the tattoo artists don't really see it, they're doing so many tattoos. But for the person with the tattoo on them, it's like, you really are receiving a transfer of energy.  It has that nice meaning underneath it all, just that experience. Yeah.  

And then some things like my sigils on my knees; one of them is destiny and one of them is regeneration and it was made by a tattoo artist who made the sigils himself. Those ones are probably my most meaningful.

Yeah,  that's pretty cool. And you know, when you're getting tattooed or when you're choosing  what you want to get, is there a place or something that you draw influence from, or really, like, it's the artist?  

Yeah it's truly the artist. I always want to make within that art, create something from that artist that is my own. It's always like, I like this and this and this. How can we incorporate all of these into one piece that does just stay with me? Cause I don't want the same tattoo as anyone else. Unless it's a mutual agreement that we're going together and getting the same, but you know, I like to know, okay this is my tattoo from this artist.

Do you see yourself more often looking at the artist’s body of work and blending it, or do you more often come with a custom idea and then see what they create?

Never that. 

Wow. 

I have done that before and I don’t get the best results. I get the best result from an artist when they feel like it's truly coming from like their art in full, and then they get to take their body of work and then kind of morph it into this customization that I'm asking for. It also feels a lot more connected, because then you're almost working together on a project. It's easier to just go from a couple of things they've already done and then be able to build from their own world. 

And I totally agree. Always prefer like I've almost rarely gotten custom more like I have ideas in my head and then I try to find the artist that is already like doing that and then like  them. Um, okay. So what was your first tattoo?

My first tattoo was a matching tattoo with my friend Chloe. This was the one that actually stayed, it was infected, but it stayed and it's still on my body. I was like 15 and she was 16 and we did it very casually with pen ink and a sewing needle, you know, the whole shebang. Um, and we tattooed the word mild for mild hot sauce.  

Okay. I love that. 

And then it got super infected and only the “MI” was there. So then I was, when I was 16, I was in the car with my friends, like three in the morning, just probably like smoking weed, I don't know. But I was like, I need to fix this. And so I now have the word murder tattooed on me. And I was really into scary movies and always have been, so  it has the backwards “R” from The Shining.  

And what's your most recent tattoo? 

They're this language. It was created by a scientist to like, talk to aliens. So I don't know what it says, but it's like… 

You don't know what it says?

No, I don't know what it says. He didn't make a formula to interpret it. So I hope that it says something good. I could've literally performed a spell or something, you never know. 

So somebody made the language, but there isn't a translation back into English. 

So I think  I don't, we got it off like a sheet that gives the translation of what the entire passage is, but it's not like directly of like this exact line means this thing. So it's just like fragments .

So when the aliens touchdown… 

Hopefully they'll, yeah, no, they'll save me. 

They’ll read it and say “oh, you're one of us!” So sick. Do you have a favorite tattoo?  

I love my throat tattoo. That one is just a classic. I feel like if I started over, I would only keep  my throat and my knees, and the other ones I would just kind of like, switch.

Mm hmm. Switch to new things or new new places?  

I think both. New things more than new places. I just wish I was more symmetrical.  And I wish that I just had Angelina Jolie's tattoos. Her back tattoos are so good. You can't get, they're just so good. They're perfect, like they're just exactly what they need to be and no more and it's just so classic.   

When you want a new tattoo, what's like the first thing that you do? Where do you start?  

I've been thinking about it lately because I have I've had the itch to get one. I feel like the first thing I would do is just kind of like dive back into like some artists that I know and then see kind of like who they are looking towards and following and like just kind of find an artist that I'm intrigued by and then go through that. Because I really don't even know what style I would want. I think that's what's kept me from getting anything is not knowing that.  

It's really cool that you're so like artists forward, like you lead with the person and then kind of it seems like maybe let the design and inspiration like follow that. 

Yeah. And I would recommend it to anybody. Whenever people ask me like, “Oh, what would you like? I don't have a tattoo, what should I do?” It's always; just find an artist that you like and then go from there.

How do you decide on what to get, what has to click for you?

I feel like it's the same with my job now, where it's just kind of innate. There's not a written out, like conscious formula. It’s just, “oh, I like this because of this, oh, I like this one. Oh, I like this one too.”  And I see how these together would fit perfectly on this space. 

How is your pain tolerance? 

My pain tolerance is pretty damn good. As I've gotten older, it's gotten way worse. But, you know, my sternum was seven hours, all single needle and in one session, because I went to New York to get it. It was so gnarly. I've never had a more gnarly experience, but like I held out. Barely, but I did hold out. I give myself the credit for that. And I have both my knees tattooed. 

Was that very difficult? 

Yes, it was terrible, but we, but we did it. 

And while you're being tattooed, do you prefer to be distracted or are you just kind of like white knuckling? 

I gotta feel it and then I got to feel through it. And then once I feel through it, I'm good. If I'm distracted, then I also get distracted with being able to handle it. So personally, I like when it's very calm and I can go to a transcendental meditation and feel the pain. I like getting tattoos because it shows me how strong my mental capacity is for that. And I think it's important. We don't go through a lot of trials as humans anymore. Of course we have terrible things happen to us, but in that sense of feeling real physical pain for a long period of time, we aren’t exposed to something like that. That's definitely part of the draw too. 

Do you find getting tattooed to be therapeutic?  

I feel like why we keep going.  Like, of course, the art is beautiful. And the self change, like seeing the tattoo on your body and you're like, “wow, I have this forever now”. It is such a magical experience in itself. But, you know, you get the itch, you get the urge, like, I need to get tattooed. I think it is this space of control within uncontrollable circumstances. Even though you could say stop, you don’t want to.  

Yeah, and you're also choosing not to, like, you're owning that. Have you ever given a tattoo? 

Yes. Too many. Too many that I should have not been allowed to. 

With a machine or a stick and poke? 

Um, I've given two with a machine, but I've done mostly all of my work with stick and poke.

Are they good? 

I've given my name about like, I think 15 people have my name tattooed on them  and probably seven are by me. 

That's a huge flex.  

My name is Genesis, so it's not difficult to talk them into it. It's not a name that you look at and think is clearly a name. So, I get away with it a little more because it's just a cool word. 

And that's your real name?

Yeah. 

And your last name is also your real last name? 

Yes. Yeah. Webb. 

Cool name.  

Thank you. 

Ok, color or black and gray? 

Black and gray. Obviously. 

You kind of answered this on your own, but if you woke up tomorrow and all of your tattoos were gone, would you do it the same? Would you even do it at all?  

I definitely would always have tattoos. I had this dream once where I woke up in the middle of a maze and I went to the center and there was a tattoo artist sitting there and I, in the dream, immediately blacked out and then woke up still in the middle of the maze. The tattoo artist was gone but I was covered in red alienistic symbols all over my body. 

I feel like you have a strong connection to aliens. 

Yeah, I don't know. It's crazy. I had like so many like, I woke up one day in my Like you lucid dream. I woke up in a dream, but I was like in my living room I slept on the couch that day and I like looked over to my front door and there was just a giant alien standing there And I was like screaming in the dream and I like got up and ran to the bathroom like in my dream But everything was the same And then I woke up actually when I closed the door. I've had a ton of alien stuff. I don't know why they just keep coming to me. 

Yeah, I've never had like an alien experience. I don't know, they're not really in my world.

You know, I think I never think I definitely like when I get fascinated, you know, you just get like fascinated. But yeah, I haven't in a while.

Okay, we have five minutes left in the zoom. So my last question is, what's next for you? Any side projects we can look forward to or anything you want to plug? 

Well I'm doing SNL, but like, after that I am hoping to do some personal projects. I had a crazy year, so I'm just trying to figure out how to make time and space for my own projects and my own art and like what I want to give to the world outside of my career. And even still intertwined with my career too, but just kind of like, what I want to give.

Yeah! Cool. Okay. That's all the questions I have. 

Thank you! 

These were such beautiful responses. And like, eloquent.  

Thank you, that's so nice. I always think I just word-vomit. It's great to hear.