Dawn Radford

Dawn Radford is a Chicago-area tattoo artist and visual artist whose work draws from the natural world, scientific illustration, and the individual experiences of the people she tattoos.

Radford received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2017, with a focus in painting and scientific illustration. Before attending SAIC, she served five years in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman, providing medical care and participating in humanitarian work abroad. Following her service, she earned her Emergency Medical Technician licensure from College of DuPage.

Her relationship with tattooing began while she was still serving in the Navy, when she started a tattoo apprenticeship in Virginia Beach. She later returned to the Chicago area, where she has continued developing a practice that brings together her backgrounds in art, anatomy, observation, and the natural sciences.

Radford approaches tattooing as an exchange between artist and client. A piece begins with the language someone uses to describe an idea, the images they share, the experiences attached to it, and eventually the interaction that happens when they meet. Rather than applying a singular aesthetic to every person, she allows those exchanges to shape the work. Her experience gives her the ability to move between subjects, compositions, and approaches while maintaining the observational quality that runs throughout her practice.

Since becoming a mother, her relationship with nature, observation, and curiosity has continued to evolve, influencing both her studio practice and the way she experiences the world outside of it.

Radford currently tattoos by appointment in Brookfield, Illinois.