This local artist draws from tradition to create bold, graphic tattoos

Red Clover Tattoo Collective — a queer- and Indigenous-owned Madison shop with an ethos of consent and community care — breaks the mold of traditional tattoo shops. And co-founder Nipinet Landsem’s pieces have a distinctive modern flair, with dramatic line work and graphic pops of color. So it might come as a surprise that Landsem, who uses they/them pronouns, draws from artistic styles that are centuries old.

“A lot of my inspiration comes from beadwork and ledger art,” says Landsem, who is a descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation. Nipinet is moving to Minnesota in June, but will continue tattooing at Red Clover in Madison.

Traditionally, Plains nations members recorded events and stories by painting with earth pigments on buffalo hides. Hides became scarce in the 19th century due to intentional bison eradication by settlers. Plains nations members continued recording their stories instead using accounting books they received in trade from settlers. The settlers’ accounting notes were often still visible underneath the Plains nations members’ black line work and the vivid color painted over the top.

“That’s where I get a lot of the bright color and the contrast in my tattoos,” Landsem says. “I love claiming something that already exists by putting your stamp on top of it and using that whole image to tell a story.”

On a deeper level, ledger art and Landsem’s tattoos share a spirit of reclamation. “Everyone has a weird relationship with their body — even more so if you’re a woman, or transgender, or queer, or a person of color,” says Landsem. “Tattoos are often a way for people to reclaim their body and reclaim their sense of self.”

From the Artist: Nipinet Landsem

Statement Pieces

I really like high levels of contrast. I like woodcut style — black work, line work, large sections of solid black against large sections of negative space. I like my work to be very bold and graphic.

Origin Story

Something that I noticed when I worked at a street shop was that I could ask for consent, and I could do trauma-informed tattooing, but I had no control over [the overall culture]. I wanted to create a space where every artist agrees to have the same protocol.

Red Clover

We wanted [a namesake plant] that grew in Madison and that was connected to everybody’s cultures. Red clover grows all over the world. We have words for it in Ojibwe and Michif. One of my co-workers has Dutch ancestry and they have words for it in Dutch. There’s a Hebrew word for it, a Yiddish word for it, an Ewe word for it.

Giving Back

I save six hours of my schedule per month for free tattoos that I offer to BIPOC clients. I want to work at making this industry more accessible to people who are usually shut out of it.

Anna Kottakis is digital editor at Madison Magazine.

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