Collection: Master Tattooist Draya Penzo: The Ink of Revolution, Resilience, and Reclamation
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(Displayed Item(s): Tattoo Gun, Tattoo Stencils, Tattoo Inks, Tattooing Practice Skins & various tattooing essentials)
Don’t just look at these tools: feel them (metaphorically that is). The tattoo gun, stencils, inks, and practice skins you see here are not just instruments of body art. They are extensions of a woman who has turned pain into power, ink into identity, and scars into sacred symbols of healing. This is the living legacy of Draya Penzo, Afro-Latina visionary, Bronx native, and a cultural force in Black and Brown America.
I proudly say: Draya is the embodiment of what it means to reclaim space, voice, and body through art.
Rising from the Bronx and blazing a trail all the way to Virginia Beach, Draya carved her name into an industry that rarely centers women (especially Black and Afro-Latina women). As a self-taught tattooist, painter, and entrepreneur, she refused to ask for permission. Instead, she inked her own destiny, making her mark on national television as a star on Black Ink Crew and ultimately becoming the “Tattoo Titan” champion in a male-dominated arena.
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But what makes her story museum-worthy, what roots her in the cultural soil of Black America, is this: Draya tattoos not just for beauty, but for liberation.
Through her platform “Healing Through Art,” she transforms trauma into truth. Collaborating with artists like Prince “Artistic Maniac,” Draya has gifted women with tattoos that reclaim bodies scarred by violence, surgeries, and grief. She understands—deeply—that not all scars are visible, and she wields her machine like a brush dipped in grace and revolution.
Her founding of TATT2IQ, a tattoo academy, continues that liberation. By teaching others how to master the art of tattooing (especially artists from marginalized communities) she is building a freedom economy. She’s saying "you don’t have to just survive in this world. You can create, you can heal, and you can lead".
Every stencil and practice skin on display represents a soul she’s helped reshape. Every ink bottle echoes the stories of people finally seeing themselves as art. Draya’s tools are her testimony and this exhibit is a living altar to her work.
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Tattoo Portfolio & Booking: https://www.drayapenzo.art/
TATT2IQ Tattoo Academy: Tatt2IQ
“Draya is more than a tattooist: she is a revolutionary healer. Her ink is medicine, her art is ministry, and her presence is permission for Black and Brown bodies to take up space and be seen as beautiful, worthy, and whole.”
- Dr. Tracy P. Washington (Curator, United Crowns Mobile Museum of Black History & Culture)