I’ve been a Burlesque performer and a Pin-Up Alternative model for about eight years now. I really love being alternative badass performer, I’ve always loved dancing, I’ve always found myself posing in front of mirrors and doing hair & makeup, being interested in horror, gore and heavy metal and industrial music as well. I started getting into gothic variety as well which has really influenced me over the years.

I started going to burlesque shows around Sydney, also alternative and kink clubs. I would see performers onstage and watching videos and looking at Pin-Up alternative magazines and I was just inspired and felt it was my calling and I wanted to do that. I’ve also been dancing so to find something that has dancing, striptease, a story telling element, it really connected with me. I’ve always been a glamourous person as well so to be able to be an art form for stage and dance and express myself and thought I need to do this. Luckily enough I put myself out there, started going to more and more shows, people started recognising me and then I started to connect with burlesque performer whose name is Kelly Ann Doll And she took me under her wing, she taught me and luckily enough my first show was at the Tattoo Expo as well. That kind of where I started and it was an opportunity to perform for a whole bunch of people as the Sydney Tattoo Expo used to have a Pin-Up Pageant as well, I competed in that and got to perform burlesque for the first time and it all evolved from there. I’m still doing it now and absolutely love it.

When did you get your first tattoo, describe it and have you added anything to the tattoo?

With my first tattoo I was always whinging to my mum that I wanted a tattoo so when I turned 18 years old, I decided I wanted to get a beautiful sugar skull gypsy. I’ve always been interested in the Mexican culture and the Day of the Dead and all that kind of artwork. She’s got a beautiful rose and its very simple artwork and still representing that culture in not a derogatory way or anything like that.

Moving to your right quadricep and next to the day of the dead woman is what looks like a sailor jerry design. Any particular meaning behind each of them for you?

Around next to the gypsy woman I actually have a tattoo of Vampirella and she was one of my favourite comic book characters. She’s really sexy and mixed between being superhero, villain and anti-hero. I actually do a Burlesque routine that is a tribute to her but I’ve always been obsessed with her.

Let us look at your tattoos in more detail and what stands out straight away is demonic design in some form. Care to explain why that design and what it represents to you?

I decided to get the Baphomet tattooed on my stomach area. For me it represents individuality and it’s also a heavy symbol of the occult and also spiritualty So the Baphomet pose is a God and Goddess and represents “As Above So Below”. For me it represents believing in myself and being grounded as a person and not relying on a religion to live my life. It’s a very spiritual and resonates with me because that’s how I like to live my life. I’ve always been fascinated by spirituality and witchcraft and not believing that one God is the way to live my life

The designs on the left quadricep are not so dark in design but I can’t pick out what they are or if they have any meaning to them. Care to elaborate the meaning of them?

On my left thigh when I was in my 20’s I had a real passion for make-up and beauty so on my left thigh I have some beautiful colourful Pin-Up style tattoos, I have a compact mirror and lipstick I’ve also got a very cute perfume bottle. For me that represents my femininity, being a woman and being really glamourous and that’s how I express myself. I really wanted these tattoos to show off that basically, they are really colourful they are pink. I was really fascinated by Pin-Up when I was younger and I still resonates with them now. One of the was actually done by a famous tattoo artist Mimsy Gleeson who has a tattoo studio called Mimsy Trailor Trash Tattoo. I always inspired by rockabilly and 50’s style and these tattoos kind of represent all of that.

Your left forearm goes to the kinky side with a woman in black lingerie and boots holding a whip. Is this part fantasy or part role play for you or just because you like Bettie Paige?

On my forearm is a beautiful tattoo of Pin-Up model Bettie Paige who I’m heavily inspired by and that’s why I named myself Bettie. She’s just one of the first PINUP models in the 1950’s and she was quite scandalous at the time because she was a fetish model. Back in those days wearing corsets, leather, experimenting with whips and chain and boots and any kind of kink was very very taboo and even a criminal offence as well. So a lot of the photos she took back then were very scandalous but she paved the way for people like myself to do what we do. So thought about it for many years I got Bettie Paige tattooed on me and probably one of the favourite tattoos that I have.