Chris Jennell, a body piercer at Evolution Inc, said he learned to perform cutting because he likes blood.
“Blood is cool, we’re all full of it, nobody sees enough of it,” he said. “We’re one of the most reserved people as far as modification. That’s why a lot of people are so into it, because it’s a big ‘f*** you,’ a middle finger to society.”
Jennell practices other forms of body modification, such as piercing and tattooing, to further indulge his fascination with blood.
Sometimes negative reactions stem from the misperception that cutting is the same as self-mutilation, he said.
“There’s a reason behind everybody’s individual choices, and there’s nothing we can do to get in the way of that,” he said. “We can either choose to assist people in doing those things appropriately, or we can get in their way and allow them to self-destruct.”
Aside from being eager to assist in flouting societal norms, Jennell said practicing body modification in general has become an opportunity to connect with people.
“There’s a definite personal relationship there,” he said. “I mean I can pretty much, within reason, name every person I ever done cutting on, and that’s because I make it more of a personal event.”
This connection, along with the sensation, are two key parts of the body modification experience, Jennell said. For this reason, he chooses not to use any anesthetic while cutting so clients can get the full experience. The tactile sensation of the scar itself is another reward, he said.
Because the practice is considered a medical procedure and illegal for him to perform in New Mexico, he said he hasn’t been actively doing it for the past few years. However, Jennell said he sometimes travels to do work on people.
Jennell said his interest in body modification manifested when he was a teenager. He said he taught himself the techniques before receiving formal training.
The primary methods of producing scars are line cutting, which draws a design into the skin with a single line, and skin removal, a process in which two incisions are made around an area of skin that is to be removed, Jennell said. Another procedure is known as “packing,” which involves putting coal into an open wound to enhance raised scarring.
Jennell said no single demographic is drawn to cutting, so his experiences have enabled him to tolerate many different personalities. Still, he said, he is selective about his clientele.
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“A lot of people I turned away because I didn’t feel that either of us would be able to grow from the experience,” he said. “Some people had designs that I wasn’t interested in doing; some people’s attitudes I wasn’t interested in. Money comes and goes — I don’t care two ways about it. It’s about making sure I’m going to be comfortable with the person.”
