Rowan Magennis’ Journey: From South Africa to Fort Worth via Dallas

Featured Artist

Having received her degree in arts and technology — game design and 3D animation — from the University of Texas at Dallas, South African fantasy artist Rowan Magennis transitioned to doing tattoos as a profession during the pandemic in August of 2021 and is now a tattoo artist on a full-time basis at a prestigious studio in Fort Worth.

“I am currently using the knowledge gained from my bachelor’s degree to design tattoos.” Speaking on her artform, Magennis describes her work as “a way to merge game development techniques into tattooing to break the limitations of the human skin.”

Her dedication to her trade is obvious in her work, with many favorable reviews from her clients on social media as proof and invitations from regional events under her belt. Texas Ink magazine recently invited Magennis as a judge for its second annual Longview Ark-La-Tex Tattoo & Art Expo where she received major accolades for her talent. Jaws dropped.

When Dark Age Tattoo Fort Worth (2836 Bledsoe Ste 200, DarkAgesFW.com, 682-499-5734) — home to many talented artists — was looking for artists for their new location above Rodeo Goat and brought Magennis on, they found a young woman with amazing talent and an interesting story.

Now, Magennis hopes to call Fort Worth her permanent home.

Magennis is working diligently to obtain a visa for her US citizenship. As anyone can imagine the process is not easy, especially when you are trying to make a living being an artist. Making art is her passion but to be a US citizen is her dream.

See more of Magennis’ amazing work on Instagram at @Rowan.Magennis.