In a small but vibrant tattoo studio tucked into Pittsburgh’s creative core, Jess Scutella (they/them) is reimagining what it means to wear your identity on your skin. A tattoo artist, multidisciplinary creator, and proud member of the queer community, Jess isn’t just marking bodies; they’re crafting intimate experiences rooted in expression, resilience, and radical selfhood.
“I started tattooing about 12 years ago,” Jess recalls. “I was already into it because of the punk rock scene, the alternative scene, the queer scene in Erie, Pennsylvania. I saw it as an outlet to expression, fun, spontaneity.”
Since moving to Pittsburgh in 2018, Jess has carved out a name for themself at Kyklops Tattoo, specializing in Japanese-style tattooing that emphasizes full-body work, or horimono. This practice isn’t about flash or trends, it’s about depth, time, and trust.
“With large-scale Japanese-style tattooing, you get really intimate experiences with people,” they explain. “Long hours with them, extremely challenging work. And it’s incredible to see people’s stories come out through their skin. To be a catalyst in that is an incredible experience.”
For Jess, tattooing and queerness are inextricably linked. Not in a tokenized way, but in a shared philosophy: bold self-expression, defiance of norms, and a deep commitment to becoming.
“Tattooing is embedded with queer identity,” Jess says. “Our expression outwardly is so political sometimes. But in tattooing, it isolates it to that person so they can express it themselves. And queerness gave me a gateway or a door to open up and say, this is who I am, damn it. I hope you like it, because if you don’t, I don’t care.”
Their work is more than art; it’s witnessing. It’s listening to someone’s story, believing it, and translating it into a living image that the client will carry forever.
Originally from Erie, Jess found something in Pittsburgh they hadn’t experienced before: space to become. “I needed a space to explore who I wanted to be and who I am,” they say. “And Pittsburgh is so vast in its small location that I felt safe here. I felt welcomed here.”
Kyklops Tattoo didn’t just offer Jess a career move, it gave them a launchpad for self-acceptance. “I came out here in Pittsburgh,” they share. “I expressed myself as a non-binary person. And the freedom and weight that came off of that was indescribable.”
Tattooing may be their primary practice, but Jess is an artist in every sense. They study bonsai and niwaki, collaborate with ceramicists through Clay Pittsburgh, and have published books of poetry and photography. Their current obsession? Capturing queer life behind the lens.
“Photography has stolen my soul. That’s all I think about nowadays, if not tattooing,” Jess laughs. “I get to witness our beautiful damn community and be behind the lens. I was lucky to shoot this most recent Pride month, and I got lost in it. I wasn’t even trying to be creative. I was just witnessing.”
That spirit of witnessing is central to Jess’s work across mediums: showing up, seeing people, and honoring who they are.
When asked what Pride means to them, Jess offers a reflection that sidesteps cliches and goes straight to the marrow.
“There’s a sense of security with wearing tattoos that I struggled and survived,” they say. “I suffered when I rejected who I was. And then I survived. And then I realized people loved me and supported me.”
Pride, for Jess, is about change. It’s about becoming, shedding, evolving. “Pride is something that comes and goes. Our queerness is ever-changing. I’m ever-changing. So I think having pride is something beautiful.”
Jess Scutella doesn’t just tattoo skin, they reveal truth. Through needles, cameras, clay, and community, they are building a body of work that embodies queer resilience, curiosity, and joy. In their hands, art becomes a kind of liberation. And in Pittsburgh, they’ve found a home to keep growing.