Tag: interview with a tattoo artist

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Roll flowers and Carrie Metz-Caporusso

Michigan based tattooer Carrie Metz-Caporusso (They/She) is known for her “roll flowers” tattoo project. A collection of tattoos that celebrate diverse bodies and defy the notion that you need to change your body to get tattooed. We chatted to Carrie about how authenticity and inclusivity have a space, not just at Lucky Monkey Tattoo studio, but in the world of tattooing…

What inspired you to become a tattoo artist and how did you become an artist? It wasn’t until my best friend mentioned that I should be a tattooer that the notion even crossed my mind. But once it did, I couldn’t stop till I got there. After going from shop to shop around the Tampa area with no luck, I finally broke into tattooing when I met my partner. I had a whirlwind romance and apprenticeship. It was such an exciting time in my life. I did my first tattoo on myself in 2011 and started professionally tattooing in 2013. 

What inspires your work? My work is inspired by what I want to see in the world, or how I’m feeling. My “not a girl flash” came out of being misgendered and it was therapeutic to get it out of my head and onto paper. Same with the roll flowers. I design what’s on my mind and it’s a bonus that people feel the same way and they resonate with me and what’s in my heart.

It seems the more authentically me I am the more people seem to like my work. It’s a beautiful thing.

How would you describe your tattoos? I describe my tattoos as whimsical black and grey illustrations. I’ve tattooed like this most of my career, although I did start off learning American traditional, because it’s a strong base for most styles of tattooing. This is how I drew since before I started tattooing so it was only natural to find my way back once I had the basics down.

What do you love to tattoo and what would you like to do more of? I love tattooing anything nature inspired, I’m a plant collector so drawing plants and flowers makes me happy.  I’d love to do more tiny tattoos. I love trying to find the balance between making a small tattoo and designing something that will last a life time.  It’s a fine balance and I like the challenge.

We love your beautiful pieces which celebrate the body of the wearer, what inspired you to start creating ‘roll flowers’ and what’s the process behind your pieces? I had personally felt a sense of ownership over my fat body once I started decorating it. I heard other fat folks wishing they could get tattoos on their backs and tummy etc. but had to wait till they were thinner.  I knew if I could come up with something specifically for us, that would highlight and work with our bodies, I could change some minds.  So I sat myself down and brain stormed until I came up with roll  flowers.

What advice would you give anyone who is worried about getting tattooed because of their body? My advice is take the plunge! When I started viewing myself as art, that’s when my confidence grew. With that being said, the world of tattooing is still very fat-phobic, sexist, racist, ableist etc. so be sure to work with someone who represents you. And don’t be afraid to ask thing such as “do you have photos of work on fat folks” or “have you tattooed people with melanated skin”. If you don’t see yourself represented, they may not be the right artist for you. 

How can the rest of the tattoo industry be more inclusive, especially towards fat bodies? I think one of the biggest things tattooers could do is share photos of diverse bodies. Representation is so important. Worry less about trying to curate a “perfect” aesthetic by posting the same thin/white bodies with desaturated pics and show your range. It hit me hardest when in my comments people mentioned they’ve never seen themselves represented in tattoo photos before.

Can you tell us about your own tattoos? Are you a tattoo collector? Since I am married to a tattooer, most of my tattoos are by him. Although Tony is my teacher I still can see how he’s  grown and changed over the years on my own skin. I love to see where we’ve started and where’s he’s at now. Tony is a constant source of inspiration and it’s an honour to be covered in his work. 

Have tattoos helped you to see your body differently or changed how you see your body in any way? For me getting tattooed is absolutely magical, with every tattoo I add I feel more and more like myself. Tattoos have helped me to see that I am living art, and art should be appreciated, loved and admired. 

Follow Carrie on Insta for more celebratory and illustrative tattoos.

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Interview with Hernán Giamberardino

Tattoo artist and founder of Cry Baby tattoo in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Hernán Giamberardino (best known as “Adamexiste”) tells us about his journey to become a tattooer, his appreciation for his clients and the detailed tattoos he creates…

What inspired you to become a tattoo artist? I got my first tattoo at the age of 15, but what inspired me to become a tattoo artist was actually TV shows. Back then we didn’t have social media, so I was exposed to the tattoo scene by the pictures hanging outside of tattoo shops in my hometown. I never thought about it as an art expression until these TV reality tattooing shows came out and I became obsessed.

How did you become an artist? My grandfather was a musician, my mother is a painter, so I guess art is in my DNA. I knew that if I wanted to become a good tattoo artist I would need more information. I was studying fine arts in Barcelona at the time, but I wasn’t getting what I wanted out of it, so I quit and got into Illustration at the Superior School of Design in Palma. That was game changing for me, I finally got the knowledge I needed and became more confident about tattooing.

My first job as a tattoo artist was in a nightclub, I always say if you can tattoo in a nightclub you can tattoo anywhere! It was a lot of fun and I gained what felt like years of experience in just a couple of months. I’m very grateful for that opportunity, although I would never do it again. I then worked for the same company in downtown Palma and after three years I had gained enough clients that I decided to open my own tattoo shop.

How long have you been tattooing? Ive been tattooing for almost 10 years and hope to keep doing it for a very long time.

How would you describe your work? I would describe my work as “delicate and detailed”. I have some sort of Horror Vacui, so even if it’s a small piece it needs to be full of details. I’m a perfectionist and in small tattoos there’s no space for errors. I think that’s what I love the most about fine line and small tattoos, every piece is a challenge and you need to be focus a 100%. I also love the aesthetic, love to see a sleeve full of small tattoos and think of the story behind each one of them.

Have you always tattooed like this? When I started tattooing I tried a little of every style, mainly because when you work for a company you don’t really get to choose what you tattoo or just do the things you like. You have to do a bit of everything. Instagram and social media really helped me develop the audience and clients that I wanted. I only posted the kind of tattoos that I wanted people to ask me for. Now I’m very grateful that I can decide what I want to tattoo and what I don’t.

What do you love to tattoo and what would you like to do more of? I love tattooing anything related to nature. Now more than ever tattoo trends change so quickly and I find something timeless in nature related tattoos. You can see them 10 years from now and they will still work. Insects and plants are my favourite, and pet portraits too when you see the client’s reaction. I would love to do more portraits of people, I absolutely enjoy it and it’s the biggest challenge for me.

How has the pandemic affected you and your tattooing? I can’t really say the pandemic affected my business in a negative way. I had to close the shop for four months and stay at home and that gave me the chance to work on other projects that I had going on.

Once we could reopen I think I had even more clients than before. Bars and restaurants were closed, social events were cancelled so people that love tattoos had the time and money. I’m very aware that this hasn’t been everyone’s situation so all I can say is how grateful I am to all my clients that kept on coming to the shop in this hard times.

The bad part of the pandemic for me was the fear. Obviously the nature of our job demands us to take extra care regardless if we are in a pandemic or not. In the beginning it was very unclear what was the best way to keep everybody and ourselves safe.

Can you tell us about your own tattoos? Are you a tattoo collector? Most of my tattoos are handpoke. I’m very lazy on the aftercare, and handpoke doesn’t require a lot of it. I always have to think a lot for my clients, so when it comes to my own tattoos I prefer to go to my friends’ flashbooks and choose the first thing that calls my attention. 

I’m more of a friends’ tattoo collector, I love tattoos that makes me laugh when I see them or remind me of a special person. I have a lot of tattoos that were made by friends that had never done a tattoo before and they’re my favourite. I also have a lot of insects, animals and matching tattoos with people I love.

Plans for the future? I’m currently in the process of opening a second tattoo shop so I can have more artists with me. I love working with people and the inspirational flow it creates so I’m very excited about it. I’m also gonna be participating, for the first time, in a tattoo convention in October and I think that will be an amazing experience.

Give Hernán a follow on Insta for more incredible tattoos and keep up to date with his future plans.

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Interview with tattoo artist Fan Wu

New York based anime tattoo artist Fan Wu tells us about her journey into becoming a tattoo artist and how her love for anime inspires everything she does…

What inspired you to become a tattoo artist and how did you become one? I really love drawing, have done since I was a kid. I’m introverted so I spent most of my time drawing. My major was printmaking in college, which is similar to tattooing as it’s a handmade process. Now I’m drawing on the skin instead of on the paper.

I was so curious about the tattoo process, that at first I started to learn it by myself. The more I got to know about the tattoo world the deeper I fell in love with it. I could, and still can, see lots of different styles and techniques from all over the world. So, I transformed into a tattoo artist instead of a printmaker, after I finished a tattoo apprenticeship.

How long have you been tattooing? Have you always worked in New York? I’ve been tattooing for almost four years now. I started to learn to tattoo when I was in college in Philadelphia. I used to tattoo on myself and my friends to practice, after graduation, I moved to New York and started my real tattooing life.

What inspires your work? What is it about anime that made you want to make it your signature style? I think what inspires my work the most is anime, florals, geometry, and galaxy patterns. I remember during my childhood the main thing I was doing was drawing and watching anime. The anime world is full of magic, craziness, and imagination. I’m always impressed by the characters and the stories. It’s so real, but it’s also not real.

Every time I watch anime I’m encouraged and touched by the spirits of the characters. I can tell how the author wants to express himself to the human world, and that’s the most important and impressive part to me. It’s just so amazing! So, I want to create more anime designs and custom pieces related to anime. Like the authors of the anime I love, I want to show people, who also love anime, the view I can see. I want to express my feelings through anime pieces.

How would you describe your work? Have you always tattooed like this? What drew you to this type of tattooing? My work is all fine line style. When I was an apprentice, I started to learn fine line style. It suited me as I really enjoy doing details and I love to spend time practising thin line. I worked as a printmaker for a while after graduating. Printmaking requires lots of detailed hand drawing and similar techniques, so I transferred these to tattooing. 

Can you tell us about the process behind your tattooing? I like to play my favourite music playlist before I draw., as songs inspire me too. Whenever I get a strong inspiration, I will start the sketch immediately. If I decide to finish a drawing, no matter how late it is, I will finish it.

What do you love to tattoo and what would you like to do more of? I love to do anime work the most. I also like to do custom pieces, like animal portraits, florals, and things that are meaningful to my clients. But I will say anime work is my favourite. I think I will try more coloured work in the future.

Can you tell us about your own tattoos? Are you a tattoo collector? Yes I am a tattoo collector! I’ve done loads of guest spots in different cities and I’ve met lots of amazing tattoo artists. I’ve been so impressed by all the different styles and the artists’ flash work, that I love to collect flash pieces from different artists that I like. I also like to draw the design myself and find the right tattoo artist to do it on my body.

Give Fan a follow on Insta.

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Interview with Alberto Lelli

25-year-old Alberto Lelli from Italy creates rad traditional tattoos mixed with Italian Futurism and German Bauhaus at Seven Doors Tattoo in Lane, London. We chatted to Alberto about the inspiration behind his pieces and the affects of the pandemic on tattooing...

How long have you been a tattoo artist? I did my first tattoo at 18 so this year it’s my seventh anniversary in the tattoo world. The first thing I did after turning 18 was get a tattoo. I immediately fell in love with this world and started visiting the tattoo studio almost on a daily basis. One year after I finished high-school I started my apprenticeship in the same tattoo shop.

What drew you to the world of tattooing? During high-school I studied at art school. This is where I got a strong education in the history of art and graphics. I took a lot of inspiration from the artistic movements of the 20th century.        

How would you describe your style? My favourite definition of my work is “a contradiction between the past and the future”. Indeed, my style conjugates artistic elements from the Italian Futurism and German Bauhaus. When I started tattooing my first approach was American traditional. I think knowledge of what has been done before you is key to being able to build your own interpretation. I am always studying, learning and trying to find new elements and inspirations.    

Can you tell us about your process, how long does a tattoo typically take? The process  is determined by the size, placement on the body and the amount of work going into the design. I am pretty lucky because most of the time my customers choose pieces from my sketchbook, but obviously if I have to do something custom I need more time to create the design. I’m pretty fast in tattooing and normally my tattoos take two to three hours maximum.

What do you like to tattoo and what would you like to do more of? My favourite subjects are definitely figures of women and men. I really want to do more architecture inspired tattoos in the future, I’ve already done a few and I really enjoyed it. I’m from Bologna and I grew up with the architecture of the city, filled with arcades. This strongly influenced my love for geometrical shapes.

How have you found the pandemic, have you found time to be creative or been feeling blocked? At the beginning it was very bad. I think everyone in the last year has been forced to change their way of life and when you feel forced to do something you can’t be happy and you work is going to reflect that. I have now learnt how to deal with that and actually I’m happy because I have found more time for painting and to do a lot of things that I wasn’t able to before. At the moment for example, I’m experimenting in the field of carpets and rug design.

What does tattooing mean to you and what does it mean to not be tattooing? Tattooing is my life and I really miss it. At the moment I’m not working at all in London as everything is closed due to national lockdown. I also miss travelling a lot and that is a really important part of my job. I hope that after the vaccine has been administered to enough people and the crisis has been contained we will slowly go back to normality.

Follow Alberto on Instagram for more traditional style tattoos.

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Cuteness overload with Little Rach

Rachel (Little Rach) tattoos at Luck and Love Tattoo in Darlington, UK where she creates, bright, bold and super cute tattoos. We chatted to Rachel about her style, inspirations and how she’s been spreading a little kindness during lockdown…

How long have you been a tattoo artist? I started my apprenticeship in 2016, so just over four years.

What drew you to the world of tattooing? I was always attracted to the alternative from a young age, noticing people with bright hair, piercings and tattoos. When I first started listening to heavier music as a teen, a lot of the bands I listened to had tattoos and I just thought it was so cool! As I got older and started getting tattooed myself I just loved everything about it.

I would buy tattoo magazines with my partner and we would sit and redraw our favourite designs from them for fun. I knew it was something I really wanted to get into.

I loved how tattoos looked but also the feeling it gave me to take ownership of my body and my choices in life (which at the time felt quite rebellious).

What inspires your work? I really like to collect vintage kitsch ornaments and kawaii toys, so I’m often inspired by things I surround myself with. I have always loved Sanrio characters and that look of cute animals or inanimate objects with big sparkly eyes. Sometimes I’m just inspired by a colour I see and I want to use it in a design.

How would you describe your style? I always struggle to answer this question because I find it difficult to say where I fit in, in terms of style. I guess cute and colourful with bold lines and a bit of sparkle. It developed from being taught how to tattoo in my apprenticeship.

I was taught by Kenny Ackerman who specialises in realism, so I learned colour blending techniques and the impact of a nice white highlight to make a tattoo pop. I was also taught by Ben Roberts who showed me the importance of clean solid line work and bold colour, so I have combined elements of the two techniques to come up with my style.

Has your style developed over time? My style has definitely developed over time. At the moment I’m really enjoying stripping my tattoos back – focusing on a solid line and saturated colour to make the design stand out on the skin. I am enjoying using a different colour palette – I have been using nice bright warm colours but contrasting them with more muted tones to give them a bit of a vintage feel.

What do you like to tattoo and what would you like to do more of? I love tattooing things with faces that wouldn’t normally have a face – stick a cute pair of eyes and a smile on a banana and I’m happy! Anything cute and colourful I love to do. I am also a HUGE fan of drag, so anything drag related I am always keen to do and would love to do more! It’s so much fun.

How have you found the pandemic, have you found time to be creative or been feeling blocked? The pandemic has been really tough. As someone who lives with anxiety and depression, it has been difficult for me to keep motivated and inspired at times. There have been times where I have had creative block for months and it becomes frustrating. I start to doubt my abilities and feel really low.

That being said, the lockdowns have given me the opportunity to explore my work in different ways, and come up with ideas that aren’t solely focused on tattooing or being a tattoo-able design. I guess being unable to tattoo takes the pressure off my art having to then be translated to a tattoo design – it can be anything it wants to be.

I’ve taken to drawing positive/inspiring messages within my art that represent things that have helped my mental health experience, trying to focus on gratitude and putting kindness into the world. 

What does tattooing mean to you and what does it mean to not be tattooing? Tattooing means the world to me. I feel so grateful to have been given the opportunity to tattoo and I’m so fortunate for the life it has given me. I have been so lucky to have such supportive people in my life who have encouraged me from the get go. I have met so many wonderful people, artists and clients, and it still blows my mind that people want to wear my artwork on their skin forever, I will never take that trust for granted.

Not being able to tattoo at the moment has been hard. Me and my partner, Ben Roberts, have our own private studio, so it has taken away a big chunk of our lifestyle. We love tattooing and everything about it, we owe everything we have and everything we do to tattooing. We miss being able to travel and see our pals across the UK, guesting in studios and doing conventions, and financially it is a worry as we both rely on tattooing for our income.

We are fortunate that we have people who are really supportive of our work and have bought prints and other bits and bobs from us, it really does make a difference and I encourage everyone to support small businesses and the arts during this tough time. I look forward to the day when there are no more lockdowns and I’m allowed to my give my clients a brew and a biscuit again when they come in the studio. 

Make sure to follow Little Rach on Instagram for more cute tattoos and artwork.