What style do you primarily tattoo in? Is there something that drew you to that style?

I work primarily in fine-line black and gray, which is also sometimes considered to be Chicano-style tattooing. And that's how I tend to identify it as a point of origin.

I started tattooing in New York in the late 2000s, at a time and place where American Traditional was considered the standard style—especially given the rich history of New York tattooing, like the Bowery and all that. While I was dedicated to learning this style and technique, seeing images of the West Coast-based Chicano style of tattooing really resonated with me culturally. It felt like a tradition I wanted to carry forward and expand upon in the Northeast, where it wasn’t as fiercely represented. When I first connected with the style, its history deeply resonated with me, particularly its roots in the California prison system. Many of the images stem not only from Mexican American history and Mexican history, especially indigenous traditions, but also from the Chicano movement and other civil rights movements that were concurrent with it.

I felt really proud to be part of its rich history and lineage and to have a vehicle to continue talking about things today. I am proud to be able to say, “This is what you're seeing, and this is where it comes from. This is how it got here, and this is what it means to me. And this is what I want people to know about it.”

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What early influences drove you to a life in art? Further, how did you evolve from your work in art to ultimately tattooing?

I was always interested in art as a kid. I was constantly drawing, and I was really encouraged in that at a young age. Fortunately, I had creative outlets. I was really interested in craft. I remember my mom teaching me how to crochet and doing a lot of little handmade things like beading or calligraphy. I was really excited by any sort of tactile process, and as I got older, I got really into sewing.

After graduating from high school, I decided to go to fashion design school in the city. But I quickly realized I was more interested in processes and handmade work rather than design and production—especially in design schools where you're pushed toward mass production and the seasonal schedules of the fashion industry. So, I ended up leaving that program and going to school for printmaking, which is very punk rock. It has a lot of relationships to tattooing and tattoo art, both culturally and technically. The processes, the hand gestures, and the way things are made felt very akin to tattooing. I was doing a lot of stone lithography, wood carving, linoleum cutting, and handset and letterpress typesetting. While I was in school for printmaking, I started taking my interest in tattooing more seriously, especially since I was getting tattooed more at that time. I was exposed to this world of artists, and I started following the tattoo styles they were doing. I was following people I admired and looked up to, including [Stephen Verge].

I saw their work and was inspired to start tattooing on my own. With the encouragement of some people I knew in the field, I started out of my house. I got lucky and landed a job at Three Kings Tattoo while I was finishing school.

During my last year of school, I was in the print studio, then going to the tattoo studio, and ultimately started tattooing at Three Kings full-time once I graduated.

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Where do you draw your inspiration now?

I would say primarily from the people that I’m working with. I always try to draw from the things I know firsthand and most intimately. So, naturally, I ended up developing what many would consider my “signature style,” which is rooted in fine-line Chicano black and gray tattooing but also incorporates punk rock and heavy metal influences. I just went with what I knew, and this style became a blend of those things—I’ve established a visual language that works for me. But I’ve been fortunate and pleasantly surprised by how people respond to the things I create in the studio. They’re often interested in interpreting my work as tattoos; it's not just a one-way translation. For example, I’ll make a ceramic sculpture, and someone will say, “I love this sculpture—what if we did a tattoo version of it?” It’s nice to see how creations from one medium can cross over and take on a new form.

Recently, I joke that I’m sold out of ideas. So much of my experience has been as a custom tattoo artist, working with clients’ ideas, helping them flesh things out, and offering suggestions—this is a process I love. A lot of the tattoo industry has become very flash-driven, where people ask to see your book of designs, assuming you just have a collection ready to go. I have some flash, of course, to meet that demand, but I always ask, “What do you want? What are your ideas? What are you interested in?” because that’s the part of the process I really enjoy.

Now, I find myself in a place where I’m not sitting down and generating tons of new tattoo ideas on my own. Instead, I’m really excited to work with people and their ideas—often things I wouldn’t have thought of or haven’t seen before. Helping bring those ideas to life is something I find really cool.