Meeting over Zoom, you can’t tell if Elle has any tattoos. As a client, it can be comforting to know the person attempting to permanently decorate your skin has done the same to their own, but with Elle, it wouldn’t matter. She doesn’t need to show you the ink on her skin (which she does have) in order to establish comfort or trust.
Talk to her for five minutes, and then take a peek at her Instagram for one and you know you’ll be in good hands. In the past, tattooing has been somewhat of an intimidating environment. An industry dominated by white men, body art spaces haven’t always been the most inclusive—and Elle knows this. Seeking refuge in a woman-owned tattoo shop, she has flourished under the fluorescent lights of the studio and continues to create a legacy that lasts through art and skin.
Elle K. Yancy otherwise known by her Instagram alias, Elleafrikan.ink, is a Philadelphia-based tattoo apprentice spending her time beautifying skin out of I Am Art Tattoo & Piercing Studio in the Port Richmond neighborhood in the city of brotherly love. Joining the studio in 2020, at least she thinks—time moves differently in a pandemic; Elle had to learn how to maneuver through a job that requires a great deal of contact during a time when touching was almost forbidden.
“It’s been interesting. I’m sure people who have been tattooing longer than me, probably know the difference from what it was before, to what it is now. But I feel like people have more time to dispose now. There’s been a demand for tattoos. So it’s been busy, just for the industry in general.
“But personally, it’s been an experience for sure. An experience that’s so personal and so intimate. We have to be masked, we have to make sure that the protocols are still followed, but also prioritize comfort. With me at least, I like to just prioritize comfort for my client and for myself,” Elle told THE BLOCK.
Comfort.
A word that eases the skin before needling into it, Elle makes sure to prioritize her client’s comfort and care in every session. A diligent creative excited by tattoo ideas that have her flexing her art skills, she’s eager to take in new clients and develop her style—just don’t bring her something off Pinterest. She’ll do it, but it won’t be her favorite.
“I feel like I’ve developed a completely new style through tattooing. … My inspiration behind my art has always [been] consistent as far as culture, and all that I’m inspired by. Nature, spirituality, all of those things. I’m still inspired by that, just as an artist.
“Ultimately, I want to develop my artistry in a way where I can tattoo things that I’ll probably paint. I’m just going along with what inspires me.”
With over 11,000 followers on Instagram, it’s hard to imagine that Elle has only been doing this since 2020. It’s even harder to imagine that it wasn’t her idea to get into tattooing, but her brother’s.
Elle’s story begins with her brother, Grashino Yancy. A former Golden Gloves boxer who was incarcerated when Elle was 15. Upon returning from prison, he debuted his own body art which he’d gotten inside. Aware of his sister’s artistic abilities, he influenced her to get into tattooing, even suggesting he’d support her career by buying the equipment she’d need in order to start. A career she hadn’t even remotely considered while still in school. While their sibling relationship was strong, it was severed in 2020 when Grashino was murdered in 2020 in Staten Island due to gun violence. Grashino was 32 years old.
“Two months after he passed away, I was talking to a partner at the time, and the subject of tattooing came up. Something deep within me told me, ‘Elle, that’s where you need to be,'” she recalled.
Elle credits much of her journey to her brother, who she honored with her own leg tattoo of a pit bull in July of 2021. Investing in her brother’s hopes for her talents, Elle continues to celebrate Grashino Yancy through her artwork while simultaneously elevating the national perception of what tattooing is.
When the subject of tattooing came up, it just felt right. That’s something that I would love to explore.
Sharing my art with people, it just seemed at the time very significant. And in a way, I felt like it was like my brother sent me some type of divine guidance or something like that.
After that, I was just passionate. I’m going to teach myself this medium, learn everything I can about the industry, [and] become a tattoo artist.
Elle Yancy
In many corners of the world, tattoos are still a taboo body accessory that is deemed unprofessional and childish, and in some cultures, the connotation is that they are related to criminality. While some still believe this antiquated idea of tattooing, Elle’s work dispels this perception through cultural influences and intricately unique designs that only resonate with the word art.
“It’s hard for me to not look at it as art,” Elle said. “It’s not, ‘She just tattoos.’ Nah, I think it’s more than that. There’s meaning. And even if there’s not a specific meaning, it means something to the person. So that’s a creation.”
Helping to change the scene and understanding of tattooing is a young Black woman inspired by the African diaspora is Elle K. Yancy, a natural artist creating and drawing her own lines in life.
