A Tattoo Artist and a Writer's Home Where House Parties Happen

An editor at the New York Times's T Magazine, Coco started out editing a literary magazine in high school and went on to write for MTV News, Out, and other outlets, covering the intersections of identity, culture, and fashion and spotlighting the voices of LGBTQ+ artists. Coco's first book, Queer, a curated collection of writing and speeches by queer creators and activists, and a second, A Sense of Shifting: Queer Artists Reshaping Dance, which chronicles the stories of queer dancers, extend that same throughline. If Coco has carried the community's voices through language, Mars is a tattoo artist who channels emotion and memory through the body. At a time when traditional tattoo shops were not exactly welcoming spaces for queer people, Mars began drawing simple tattoos for friends, one by one—and is now ten years into the craft.

"Working on a client's body as my canvas for two or three hours can be emotionally draining, but that time can also become an experience of solace and catharsis for someone. Some people silently ask for a hug once their tattoo is done. For me, tattooing is not simply work—it is closer to a ritual, a marking of community."

When night falls, their lives reveal another face. Coco hosts a karaoke night called Coco-oke, while Mars co-hosts and performs at Thirst Night, a queer strip show—together creating spaces where the LGBTQ+ community can safely express themselves and celebrate. That spirit of hosting carries over into the house parties they throw from time to time, where Mars usually cooks and Coco welcomes the guests. It is also why the two are known in their community as "Dad and Mom."

Purchased in 2021 and renovated with their friend, the architect Michael Yarinsky, the house is a full reflection of how they live. The living room and kitchen were opened up into a single connected space, anchored by a Togo sofa that comfortably seats six. "The space we wanted had an earthy warmth and a restrained mood that makes you want to surrender your body to it. The moment we found this vintage Togo online—it looks like a baseball glove—we knew it was the one. It took months to arrive from Poland, and while the pandemic delayed construction, it was shuttled from room to room wrapped in bubble wrap. (laughs)" Mars usually settles into a corner of the Togo to draw, and Coco tends to take the seat alongside. Even the short-legged dogs clamber on and off with ease, and the living room has naturally become the center of the home.

The two first met ten years ago at a bar in Bushwick, through a dating app. They married a year later and have never since spent more than a week apart. This spring, they welcome their first child. Coco is busy turning a former office into the nursery, while Mars has paused pole dancing and cut back to one coffee a day. As the rhythms of the house and of the body shift little by little, their life will find a new balance. But, as the two put it: "Even as we enter a new chapter, we want to keep leading an active, creative life together with our community."