Sonny Calandrillo

I’m a New-York-born, Jersey-bred transgender tattooer, multimedia artist, and writer. I began tattooing 2016 and refined my skills and style under Rich Fie and Dave Mowers at R&D Tattoo. I specialize in American Traditional tattooing, with a focus on queer, fantasy, animal, and pop culture imagery. I live in Queens with my wonderful wife and best friend, October. We married in May 2022 in the presence of family, friends and colleagues, many of them tattooers themselves.

I’m a musician by training; I did my degrees on the upper west side of Manhattan at Mannes College of Music, with concentrations in chamber music composition and theory. I’m the child of a third-generation restauranteur, and spent most of my life in restaurants. My mother still owns and operates an Italian restaurant in New Jersey—it’s from her that I learned so much about service. 

Sharing food, like tattooing, creates a uniquely intimate connection between the patron and a dedicated, obsessive, often overworked craftsperson. The two are together for a brief moment, but the client leaves changed forever. This ecstasy of transformation is facilitated by the tattooer and their years of experience and training, but it is made possible only by the client’s presence, submission, willingness, preparation and trust. It’s for these things that I thank you.