jade orders take out
from vientiane
Why did you choose takeout from Vientiane?
When I moved to this location, like a true bad grown up, I did not buy groceries for several weeks so I used to eat take-out from there all the time. It's quite delicious, and these little crab rangoons are my favourite.
What is the St. Boniface food scene like?
It's great, lots of restaurants are opening up - I think the whole neighbourhood in general is up-and-coming. There is a lot of new stuff popping off, and older well-established restaurants that have been here forever have created such a good legacy. These are quality establishments too, it's not just shitty spots. There are a lot of fun little sandwich shops like the diner across from the Marion that's been there forever. A lot of family owned, human run restaurants.
“Sometimes it’s like kismet or fate, or something, you just feel like this person needs a certain tattoo. ”
What kind of food did you eat growing up?
I grew up eating weird shit like fish casseroles. My mom was vegetarian but she ate fish so she would be experimenting with new “fish things,” which I'm sure you can imagine is a little disgusting. My parents didn’t eat much food with flavour - they really only knew about two ethnicities of food that existed, which was Indian and Chinese, so whenever we did have an adventurous meal it was East Indian, and whenever we had a family meal it was takeout Chinese food. Not that those foods are bland but my home eating was very very bland.
How do you compare that to what you eat now?
I would say I kind of defected from my parents in a lot of ways. I really exploded when I moved out on my own and had to try everything, I really got fixated on Vietnamese and Thai food, which are my favourite. My parents hated sushi, so I really loved sushi.
Are there any other ways you deviated from your parents other than food?
Well my parents are quiet and mild mannered people, so I feel like I'm the polar opposite of that in a lot of ways. They're very law-abiding, not that I'm a criminal, but I've never been one for rules. I'm this weird human and the loudest thing they've ever experienced.
Who is your lead country lady and why?
Ms. Dolly Parton, absolutely. Not only is she my country lady but lady in general. She has shown an exemplary way of living life and treating others, and she's very reasonable and kind. Very smart, and I like her business practices. I like her way of - I don't want to use the word manipulating - but swaying public opinion to see her one way so that she can live her private life in another way. She's an interesting, well-rounded diverse human and she treats everyone with kindness. She loves gay people, she's not racist and speaks out about people that are homophobic and racist. I think she's just cool and worthy of being a lot of people's idol.
What's the best country song to slap some leather to?
Lonesome, On'ry and Mean by Waylon Jennings. Whenever I'm driving down the highway I'm like, hitting the roof when this song comes on. It's a good leather-slapper.
Which musician changed it all for you?
Honestly I love Kris Kristofferson so much. Lyrically, I think he's great. I really like a lot of old country, it’s some of the saddest music you've ever heard but also poetic and kind of upbeat, which I think is akin to my personality. Kind of self deprecating, kind of depressing, but with an air of lightness to it - an irony or comedic twinge to it.
How'd you get into tattooing?
Well, I was working as a restaurant manager, and I had been “falsely” accused of selling weed off of the front porch of the restaurant, and I got fired. I needed a job, I had $200 left in my bank account, and an appointment for a tattoo with a travelling artist. In true fashion, instead of being responsible I just went with my gut and went to get tattooed, because I didn't want to cancel on this person.
I ended up talking to the owner while I was at this appointment, and mentioned that I was in between jobs and didn't want to go back to the restaurant.
I had been running underground art shows and doing a lot of graffiti and he had a lot of similar interests. We got to talking and he ended up offering me a job and I ended up working as the front desk manager at that shop for three and a half years. It's quite a long story of why and how it happened, but my friend Bram taught me how to tattoo. I've never really had any formal training, just mentorships so I guess as an artist, I really developed my skills on the streets, haha.
Sounds simplified - lol.
I was partying quite a bit in my 20's, and the only thing I cared enough about to take seriously, aside from partying, was tattooing. I had to separate myself from my life to be reborn a new human that had a responsible job. In my opinion, you don't get good at stuff by not putting your entire effort into it. You can be mediocre at stuff by putting a mediocre effort in, but unless you're doing something for 4-5 hours a day, if it's drawing or something creative like that, you're not going to see progression.
I gave up a good portion of my social life and my dating life has become a disaster since starting tattooing. I lost a lot of good friends. Some people don't understand that you're so stressed out, you don't have any money, you're working so hard for this thing, and they're like, 'you're just drawing pictures.' It's a little crazier than that, you really have to give yourself to it, and if I was just drawing pictures, I wouldn't be going anywhere.
Were you always an artist?
People sometimes think you have this natural given talent as a tattooer that you’ve been able to access because it was in you somewhere. But when I first started the desk I literally could not draw, I look back and it's absolute chicken scratch, it looks like a child drew it. At first you have to blindly produce garbage, that's the best you're going to do right then and there, but if you keep producing, it drives you to do better. There are certain artists absolutely, where I'm like, 'what the fuck, you're so talented' but for an illustrator like what I do, I think you put the work in and you can achieve what you want. There were some ‘right place at the right time’ moments for me, and if those moments hadn't happened, I still would have done it - it would have just been a different road.
When I first started I was really into ayahuasca and I was also really into reading about theory. School wasn't really an option because it's expensive, I'm a drop out, and it just doesn't seem like it would work for me. But I always told myself if I wasn't going to go to school, I had to keep learning in other capacities, because you can't just stay stagnant or become a bum or whatever. I wanted to maintain education for myself, be teaching myself or constantly reading. So at that point in my life I was reading theories about existence, and I was getting very existential about everything. I read a theory that if you do anything for 10,000 hours you will become an expert at it. I sat down and did the math. I was sitting at the front desk of the shop, and at any given time there's not a lot to do if you aren't managing clients coming in. So I worked it out that if I was doing 5-6 hours a day it was like 4 years. I was like, if I start drawing right now - even just looking around and drawing shit off the walls and re-drawing stuff - by the time I'm 30 I'll be an expert at drawing. It felt like a pipe dream at the time but I was like, 'what the fuck else am I doing with my life?' I realized if this theory was correct, even if I'm not an expert at drawing, but like half good, I can work with that. And that's where I think the blind ignorance comes in, just some weird confidence I have in this and nothing else in my life. You also have to be hyper-critical of your work. It's a fine balance but I think the natural talent some people have as an artist is really a workaholic brain that operates in a certain way so that it projects you forward and allows you to multitask projects and clients.
What did high school Jade look like?
It was back when punk was really cool so I was a lil punk and a bit of scenester. I had dyed hair, and weird infected piercings, I was a grimy little hooligan. I was dropping out, smoking cigarettes, listening to weird music and being like, 'it's not a phase, mom!' I was a messy teen, that's for sure.
Did you choose your dogs or did your dogs choose you?
I definitely had no idea what I was doing and got one from a puppy mill, and I got the other one from a weird abusive household. I picked them like a teenage girl, "I'm going to buy puppies." I got them both after breakups. I very much picked them, but they really like me so it's working out.
What's the worst new trend of 2020?
Well tattooing definitely has some terrible new trends. The worst is regular flash style tattoos but blasted onto somebody's face. That's a huge thing, Winnipeg is so behind the times on a lot of things so you don't see it here, but in Europe, New York and LA - the places that lead the trends - it's very trendy to get shit blasted on your face. I think it started with the whole Soundcloud rapper trend, of young kids getting face and hand tattoos, but they started with subtle things. But now they're getting full blown tattoos awkwardly placed on their face. In general, I'm not sure, I'm not very trendy. Let's say low rise jeans, that's a really bad one. I think it's just a threat though. They died for a reason.
Have you ever tattooed a face?
No, but I would tattoo the right thing on the right person. This might make me sound a little pretentious, but it's not in a pretentious way, like who I think is cool or whatever. Like, I didn't tattoo hands, until I met Helga, and then I was like, "yeah, you need a hand tattoo, that's perfect," and I had said no to so many people before that. Sometimes it's like kismet or fate, or something, you just feel like this person needs a certain tattoo. There's no way I'd be like putting flash on someones cheek, but maybe a small one depending on the person.
How does your shop differ from other shops?
My shop differs from other shops in general by focusing on having an inclusive space that makes people feel comfortable. A lot of tattooing focuses on something being proven, or accomplished by sitting through the pain of a tattoo, and I don't believe that's true. I think they hurt in general. The space is always a little intimidating - getting tattooed is intimidating, so I don't think you need to lean into that to make it a worthy experience. As far as I know, this is the only queer-owned and operated shop in Winnipeg. My shop is a space where queer, straight, trans, people of colour can come and feel safe and not judged. They are all welcomed, and not as an afterthought. My space is very much designed for them, and I think that's the difference.
Who's someone you'd love to tattoo?
Honestly, my favourite person in the world right now is Judge Judy. There's something that happens when you're tattooing somebody, you often get into very involved or intimate conversations with them and you connect on a different level, and I would really love to connect with Judge Judy on that level. So Judge Judy.
Do you care about astrology?
Astrology in general isn’t annoying, some people I know believe in it and know a lot about it, but I do find it very annoying that some people live their lives based on Co-Star. I think there are a lot of young people who have clung on to internet affirmations like, "I have to be selfish tonight, because my horoscope just told me that I need to be self-centred," and I'm like, "bitch you're the most self centred person I've ever met in my life, you do not need to up that.” Astrology is sometimes used as an excuse to be an asshole or to give yourself a personality.
What about astronomy?
I like the stars. That's the good one.
What's the last thing you bought over $20?
I just bought $200 worth of weed at the weed store. But I have a guest for the week.
What's your favourite mustard?
A beer-dijon, with the grainy seeds. I like it with a pickle, with a cheese, I like it on a sammy.
Interview by Katy Slimmon & Ali Vandale
Photography by Ali Vandale