Bishop Briggs’ first tattoo was a snarling mountain lion from a medicine-card image she said kept appearing to her. She chose it for its association with leadership. A week later, during a difficult stretch, she impulsively added a crying heart-shaped face. The contrast still fits a collection that moves between deliberate references and spur-of-the-moment ideas.
Across her neck and arms are words, flowers, eyes, animal designs and smaller pictures, including a cherub and a skull-and-crossbones. The pieces don’t follow one strict style.
Bishop Briggs’ POWER neck tattoo makes a small word feel huge
The word POWER runs vertically along the side of Briggs’ neck, near a floral tattoo. She has another short word, WORLD, in the same area. They read as separate thoughts rather than one long sentence, and the narrow lettering follows the shape of her neck.
Her arms are a patchwork of eyes, animals, flowers, and small symbols
The forearms mix dark illustrations, small lettering, eyes, animal shapes, flowers and marks tucked between larger designs. Briggs has mentioned having several pairs of eyes on her arm. In a close photo they sit among the other pieces, not as a single sleeve image.
Different sizes help the patchwork stay readable. The larger designs hold their shape, while the smaller ones fill some of the gaps; the open skin between them keeps the arm from becoming one dark field.
Briggs’ colourful arm pieces sit beside darker black ink
One photo shows a large rose and leaves across Briggs’ upper arm. The petals bring in red and blue, against nearby black-and-grey designs. That bright section stands apart without turning the whole arm into a colour sleeve.
The floral image is familiar, but its scale and shading give it a heavier feel than a small, delicate rose. The surrounding dark work changes how it reads, so the colour becomes one part of a larger mix.
The hand and wrist tattoos are small, but they change the whole look
Briggs’ hands and wrists carry lettering, small symbols and illustrative shapes. The short phrase BECAUSE I’M FREE is visible on her hand; it takes little space but reads clearly. The ink shows in performance photos whenever her hands come up near the microphone or her face.
Hand tattoos get regular washing, sun and friction, and the skin moves constantly. Fine details can soften, so short lettering and clear shapes tend to hold up better than a crowded design.
The skull, shark tooth, and creature tattoos give the collection its edge
Briggs has said there’s usually some kind of creature on her mind. Her collection includes the mountain lion, a shark tooth, an owl, a tarantula, a moth and a dragon, alongside the skull-and-crossbones.
The skull came from a drawing her father made in a small travel encyclopedia, beside Led Zeppelin lyrics he had written there. Briggs had the image copied with its little imperfections; she said it reminds her of her father and the fearlessness she wanted to share with him.
She has described the shark tooth as a reminder to keep fighting for her dreams. The dragon carries a related but distinct idea: she wanted a reminder of power, and liked the image of a creature holding its fire until danger or protection called for it.