Lake Kennedy (he/they) is a professional tattoo artist and freelance graphic designer based in Long Beach, CA. He graduated in 2021 with a BFA in Communication Design from Parsons School of Design, earning Departmental Honors and Academic Honors. After designing for the likes of Nike, Apple, Disney+, and A24, he took his skills and aptitude for learning to 10 Thousand Foxes as a tattoo apprentice. He has been tattooing full-time since September 2022.

His senior thesis focusing on disability justice explores higher academia’s gatekeeping and its wider implications towards the exclusion of minority communities. He strives to apply his intersectional experience as a transmasculine, disabled POC to foster a more welcoming and inclusive tattoo practice.

Want to know more? When Lake isn’t tattooing or recovering from tattooing, you can find him sending climbs at his local bouldering gym, binging a new show, or playing with his rescue dog, Kai.

Lake is diagnosed with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and is impacted by its neurological, gastrointestinal, and respiratory symptoms, among others. He manages his symptoms on a day-to-day basis, but experiences unexpected flare-ups that prevents him from being able to work. For this reason, he chooses to disclose his disability and enjoys the flexibility tattooing affords him for the betterment of his health and overall well-being. Lake has connected with those in the disability community and recognizes the influences medical trauma has on tattooing and attempts to establish measures to reduce these triggers.

Photo: Leo Xander Foo