Noor: I wanted to center the conversation around your trchnakir designs. I would love to hear how you would describe the design and the tattoo. If you were describing it to someone who had never seen it before or is unfamiliar with the concept. 

Poppy: I wanted to spark emotion. Because it's dark and creepy and a little, you know, gory, so there should be feelings of discomfort. And I feel like that really reflects on my take on our [Armenian] history and even the current state of everything. 

It's a form of honoring our culture and the traditions, but taking a completely modern twist to it. Because there are a lot of people that I've met that aren't super interested in our traditions, they are still very hyerenatser, but they are not connected truly. So I feel like this kind of brings those two things together, if that makes sense. A way to connect the people who are disconnected. 

Noor: Where did you get your inspiration for this [trchnakir] design? If you can pinpoint a certain thing you saw or an idea you had at one point, or if someone brought the idea to you. 

Poppy: It's kind of silly. A lot of the style definitely reminds me of H.R. Giger. His style is kind of creepy. I am fond of cyber-punk vibes, I think that's just something that I've been interested in for a while, but the trchnakir itself came from, honestly, my last name. My last name is Magdesyan, but originally it was Maghdes, which comes from seeing death or a death-seer. I just thought that was badass. 

I’ve worked with trchnakir for 10+ years. The first time I made one was in high school. And then I started teaching it to kids. Every week, I was doing different designs. It's just something that I really fell in love with. I love the idea, the concept, the fact that it's been around for so long. But yeah, I was like, "Maghdes," that's metal. I should make the font, metal, gory, and disturbing to fit with it.’ That's where it came from.

Noor: I love that. I never would have guessed that just looking at the design. I'm glad that you made that connection for me, and our readers will get to hear that too. I know that the example that you have sketched and have tattooed at this point is an "Armenian Հ." Have you designed any other letters of the alphabet? 

Poppy: I have the whole word "Մա" and then the "Տ" and the "Ե." And then the ‘Ս’, which is a work in progress. I have all the different layers, the concept, and then the references… that page that I'm working on has like over a hundred layers. 

There are different versions, too. I started with some letters that I thought were done, and then I kind of went back to it, and I was like, ‘This is not it. This isn't finished.’ I kind of just redid the whole thing. That's why it's also been in progress for a couple years. 

Noor: Oh really? 

Poppy: Yeah, this is something I've been working on for a long time, 'cause I really wanna perfect it and like, every letter has a unique kind of feel to it and different style almost, they're all similar, but they're slightly different. 

Noor: Noor magazine focuses on the space between heritage and innovation, tradition and rebellion. How do you think your tattoo art speaks to that conversation? 

Poppy: It’s a way of honoring our culture, but in a new light, in a modern form. I also just want it to reflect on our history, the losses that we've endured, and how they're often falsified. Like, for example, like the idea of being a soldier and fighting for our country, like in Armenia, it's a big deal, right? All the kids are like super stoked about it. They look up to the idea of being a soldier. And honestly, the reality is it's really not the best, it could be a death sentence. And especially one incident, I remember, the government abandoned quite a few soldiers in Artsakh. And I just thought, that's a really shitty thing to do, especially for the people who are enthusiastic and want to fight for their country. To leave them alone, to fend for themselves. There are these little hidden things that are fucked up. Not a lot of people talk about or know about it. The theme of that darkness and that gore is kind of like a reminder of, ‘hey, things are not so great. They're not so bright. These things happen.’ I think that the diaspora is also kind of emotionally disconnected from that truth. It's just different. I feel like we're told different stories, and it's like everyone's in different places.I want it to send a message to reconnect us to those stories. It's kind of like a reminder. Obviously, we know all the history is not the best, but I think people are forgetting. You're kind of losing the path, you know, like a lot of people are focused on the wrong things instead of rebuilding or doing things that are worthwhile.