Ryan Ashley DiCristina (née Malarkey, born April 29, 1987), known as Ryan Ashley, is an American

tattoo artist A tattoo artist (also tattooer or tattooist) is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a "tattoo shop", "tattoo studio" or "tattoo parlour". Tattoo artists usually learn their craft via an ...

known for her appearances on the television shows ''

Ink Master ''Ink Master'' is an American reality competition television series that premiered on Paramount Network (formerly called Spike) on January 17, 2012. Each season features tattoo artists who compete in various challenges assessing their tattooing ...

'' and its spin-offs. Her signature style reflects her training and experience as a fashion designer: Ashley specializes in

black-and-gray Black-and-gray (also black-and-grey, black and grey/gray) is a style of tattooing that uses black tattoo ink mixed with distilled water to create various tones in the skin. This tattooing style originated from prisons in the 1970s and 1980s and w ...

designs with

beadwork Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another by stringing them onto a thread or thin wire with a sewing or beading needle or sewing them to cloth. Beads are produced in a diverse range of materials, shapes, and sizes, and vary ...

, lace detail, and ornamental jewels. Ashley won ''Ink Master'' season eight competition in 2016 and in the following years returned to host a spin-off show (''

Angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

''), judge another spin-off ('' Grudge Match''), and judge in the main series. She co-owns a tattoo shop in Grand Junction,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Early life and career

Ashley was raised in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, a small

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

in northeast

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Her single mother worked at a fast food restaurant while taking night school in accounting. Ashley's mother, who was also an artist, taught her how to draw. She graduated from

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college under the State University of New York, in New York City. It focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. It was founded in ...

in 2007 and spent five years as a fashion designer in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

at a private label, where she designed beadwork, lace details,

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

, and appliqués for garments. Her intricate tattoo style would later reflect these themes. Seeking a career outside of a traditional office environment, Ashley returned to Pennsylvania to apprentice as a tattoo artist. Her experience working at a street shop (a tattoo parlor that takes walk-in requests) convinced her to only work by appointment. Ashley and Josh Balz, her then partner, opened a shop in

Kingston, Pennsylvania Kingston is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on the western bank of the Susquehanna River opposite Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre. Kingston was first settled in the early 17 ...

, in 2013, The Strange and Unusual Oddities Parlor. Ashley tattooed from the back of the shop while the front featured their collection of

taxidermy Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proces ...

, objects, and restored antiques for sale. The latter had been a hobby from her youth, when she had attended yard and estate sales with her mother and grandmother. The couple opened a second shop in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

with taxidermist business partners. Ashley's signature black-and-gray tattoo designs feature beadwork, lace detail, and ornamental jewels. When designing filigree, she references Victorian furniture

scrollwork The scroll in art is an element of ornament (art), ornament and graphic design featuring spirals and rolling incomplete circle motifs, some of which resemble the edge-on view of a book or document in scroll form, though many types are plant- ...

. She references bridal accessories and

chandeliers A chandelier () is an ornamental lighting device, typically with spreading branched supports for multiple lights, designed to be hung from the ceiling. Chandeliers are often ornate, and they were originally designed to hold candles, but now in ...

for her beading designs, and old, illustrated wildlife books for animal and bird designs. Her clients have included rock musicians

Maria Brink Maria Brink (born December 18, 1977) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the frontwoman of the metal band The band has gone on to release seven studio albums and receive four nominations, two from Alternative Press Music Awards, ...

and Ash Costello.

''Ink Master''

In late 2016, Ashley appeared on ''Ink Master'', a

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

television series in which tattoo artists participate in artistic challenges to outlast other competitors and receive the season's title and monetary prize. Ashley was the eighth season's champion, the first woman to win the title. '' Mic'' noted the occasion as a moment for female tattoo artists, who are subject to social stigmas in a male-dominated profession. Under Ashley, the women on the show formed an alliance to outlast their competitors. The show's executive producer said it was the first time such an alliance had held throughout the season. With only five years of tattoo experience, she won the title as a relative newcomer. She entered the show to develop new areas of tattooing expertise and test herself. She had been approached to participate in previous seasons of the show, but declined for scheduling conflicts. Ashley is featured in the two seasons of ''Ink Master: Angels'', a spin-off from ''Ink Master'' in which Ashley and several co-competitors from the main series' eighth season traveled across the United States to face off against local tattoo artists. Winners received spots in the next season of ''Ink Master''. The show appeared on

Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are located a ...

in 2017 and 2018. ''Angels'' was originally planned as a one-hour special with the same premise, but expanded into a full-season spin-off. Ashley later served as a judge in another spin-off, ''Ink Master: Grudge Match'' (2019). As part of the show's revamped format, Ashley returned to ''Ink Master'' as a judge in 2022 ( season 14) and continued into the 15th season the next year. She owns Elysium Studios, a tattoo parlor in a restored church in

Grand Junction, Colorado Grand Junction is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and largest city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction's population was 65,560 at the 2020 United St ...

, with her husband. Elysium hosts tattoo guest and resident artists based on Ashley's connections with ''Ink Master''.

Personal life

Ashley was formerly engaged to Josh Balz, former keyboardist in the metal band Motionless in White. She married tattooer Arlo DiCristina in late 2019. Their son, Atheus, was born in May 2020. She announced both her relationship with DiCristina and her pregnancy on covers of '' Inked'' magazine. She returned to New York City in 2018. As of 2019, she lives and works in Grand Junction, Colorado, where she and DiCristina own Elysium Studios. Ashley posted to her

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

account on May 30, 2024, that she was going through a divorce.

References

External links

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Portfolio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley, Ryan 1987 births American tattoo artists Artists from Pennsylvania Fashion Institute of Technology alumni Living people Participants in American reality television series People from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Reality show winners Ink Master Women tattoo artists