About
Krystal Ingram is a native of Albany, N.Y. She attended Albany High, and Hudson Valley Community College where she studied Fine Arts. Krystal received her B.F.A. in Printmaking from SUNY New Paltz in 2011. She then began an apprenticeship under Dan Belcher later that year. After finishing her apprenticeship, Krystal continued to tattoo in Albany for the last ten years and expanded her community through guest spots in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and all over New York.
Krystal and Jake were married in 2017 and moved to the village of Round Lake shortly after. They decided their beautiful village with lantern lit cottages and friendly neighbors deserved a tattoo shop of its own, so in 2022 they purchased the building at 318 Ruhle Road, the former pediatric office of Dr. Buckley, and thus San Souci Tattoo was born.
Krystal Ingram
Artist’s Statement
The first tattoo I ever saw was a tribal scorpion done in green, black, and orange on my uncle’s left arm. He got it as a memorial for my father. It was the most bad-a** way to memorialize someone you loved. It was like a totem of protection, a badge of honor, a mark of respect for the dead. It blew my ten year-old mind. I wanted a tattoo.
I spent much of my time in art school trying to convince my peers, and my teachers that what I was creating was important. I wasn’t able to convince myself until I found tattooing again later and started to recognize the same feeling of excitement as I started to see and create images with the same intentions as my uncle’s scorpion. I wanted to make work that was important to people, that held the same power and effect as that scorpion did for me the day my uncle rolled up his sleeve to show it off.
I like to tattoo a broad range of styles from traditional American, Japanese, black and grey, and nature themes. I love doing tattoos that reference the past such as old biker imagery, roses, cartoons, etc. and I believe history repeats itself. The traditions of the past always find ways to manifest themselves in the present. As much as I am drawn to these types of imagery, I believe my job as a Tattooer is to interpret the visual information I am given in the best way possible; To organize and present it in a way that is exciting and interesting for the collector and those who see it.
The tattoos I make are not just for myself, I believe tattoos are a collaborative effort. My portfolio is a record of the ideas, time, and efforts of myself and the people who get tattooed by me. I love when clients give me free reign over what they are collecting but I also really appreciate when I have the opportunity to showcase details that are important to them. It’s always a huge honor to give someone their first tattoos and introduce them to a practice that means so much to me.
I’m really excited about Sans Souci Tattoo and I’m looking forward to seeing all the cool tattoos we make together. Thank you to everyone who has gotten tattooed over the last ten years, and to all new clients, I can’t wait to meet and work with you.