With a line mixing fauna and aesthetic motifs, Alexis's designs reveal her love for nature, beauty with a real sensuality aesthetic in her design. Moreover it's a big explosion of femininity in her own way that is distilled in her work. Originally from Melbourne, this 25 years old artist just moved to the Gold Coast 4 years ago where the beaches and the sand are as soft and fresh as her amazing vision of tattoos.
How did you get into tattoo in prior?
When I was a teenager, I listened to a lot of hardcore music and metal. I started going to shows when I was 13 years old and being so young I’d always be so in awe of the older generation who had a lot of tattoos. I guess my fascination sparked there.
How did you learn to tattoo?
I started drawing tattoo flash and related imagery when I was about 16 years old. At that time, one of my best friends, Molly, worked on the desk at Jed Hill’s tattoo shop out in Ballarat. He had been tattooing out that way for almost 40 years at that point. He would often ask to see my drawings and give me words of encouragement and advice. When I was a little older I took the train out to Ballarat to visit him, with intentions on catching up and getting a new tattoo. When I got there he sat me down and we had a chat over a cup of coffee. He then looked at me dead in the eyes and said “you’re not gonna get tattooed today, you’re gonna do your first one!”. It was a big push in the deep end for me. Obviously I had been trying to work towards tattooing for a long time, but it was definitely not how I expected it to happen. And it definitely didn’t go as I expected, and I got the boot after only a month. After that I ended up working at a short lived street shop in Williamstown (Melbourne periphery, ndlr) alongside Lucky Diamond Rich (the most tattooed man in the world). Lucky didn’t own the shop, and he wasn’t necessarily my mentor; I never really had one. Although, I learnt a lot about tattooing from him. A year later, I ended up moving to the Gold Coast, and worked in busy street shops. Observing the artists there and doing « touristy » walk ins most of the day refined my tattooing immensely.
Why do you tattoo?
For me, tattooing seemed like a natural progression from my paintings. In my personal experience, painting was always a huge mean of emotional release. It’s such a crazy feeling knowing that people have felt such a strong emotional connection to my drawings that they want to wear them permanently on their skin. That in itself is so rewarding, because I feel that the exchange of energy when applying a tattoo in this sense can be so mutually healing for both parties. I do feel extremely fortunate that I am now been able to make a living off the art I create. As much as that was always an aspiration of mine, it was never my sole intention. My grandparents on my mother's side are both established and well-travelled artists, and I always looked up to them and wanted to be like them. It’s truly a dream to be at this point of my life.
What particularly attracts you into tattoo?
Having been introduced to the world of tattooing through traditional tattoos; I really love a crispy bold line, and heavy black shading. I guess you can tell that from the tattoos on my body. Over the years my taste has definitely expanded, and now I have a broader spectrum of appreciation when it comes to different styles. A lot of the time these days I find myself more drawn to someone’s work when I get along with the person. If it’s going on my skin for the rest of my life I’d prefer it to have a pleasant memory attached and good energy put into it.
Your tattoos and designs are mostly with nature or women representations, why?
It’s a common interpretation that when an artist draws a human figure, it subconsciously becomes a representation of themselves. Which for me I guess has some truth to it. It was never intentional and I’ve definitely denied it in the past but I suppose the girls I draw are sometimes a representation of some part of me. As I said earlier, my art is often an emotional release for me; especially when I am drawing for my own leisure. I guess my drawings are often an exaggerated visual reflection of my subconscious emotional state. At the start of my career, my drawings were very dark and a little depressing. The style was similar, although the subject matter was pretty grim. Reflecting back, my mental health wasn’t so good. I have transformed so much as a person since then, and so have my drawings. A big shift in my mental health came from moving to a warmer climate, exploring outdoors and deeply appreciating nature’s gifts. It’s so easy to take the sun for granted as she visits us every day but what she provides is truly irreplaceable, she brings life and to me, her warmth is motivating. Sometimes thinking about how big her energy is really makes me feel small, and puts into perspective how insignificant my daily stresses are. Being under the sun, in the water or surrounded by beautiful plants really helps me regenerate; it reminds me of what is important. It is so much easier and enjoyable for me to draw things I can relate to. It’s lucky for me that likeminded people have found my work and enable me to keep doing what I love.
What's your relationship with tattooing and tattoos as a women?
Being a woman in a mostly male run industry definitely has its benefits and difficulties. I've definitely experienced misogyny in the workplace before. I’ve worked with men who couldn’t compute that someone can be both talented and attractive; like success came from either one of the other. I've been told that because I had boobs that must be why people wanted to get tattooed by me and why I was successful, completely disregarding my years of hard work and talent. It was definitely discouraging at times. On the upside I’m very grateful to have such a strong community of forward thinking female tattooers around me, who are making a progressive impact on the industry constantly and paving the way for the future.
What would you like to express the most through your tattoos?
One of the strongest themes in my tattoos in the connection to nature and life. To me this is extremely important. Everything is connected, and how we treat and interact with mother nature’s creations really reflects through a person's soul. We are really gifted with so much beauty in this world.
Did you have an experience with tattoos, people judgment or people interaction because of tattoos ? It's also proved by psychologist that man's reactions are different to women with tattoos... what do you think about it ?
It can really go either way. I feel like people definitely use their opinion on my tattoos as a conversation starter. I used to get annoyed about it, but seeing someone with a lot of tattoos is so normal to me that I often forget that it’s very unusual and intriguing for the average person. Luckily most of the time when people stop me in public it is to compliment me on my tattoos, which is really sweet. I always compliment strangers on their outfits, hair or tattoos in public as well! On the other hand, some people automatically make the assumption that I’m a rough person because I have tattoos. I’ve definitely caught some side eye dirty glances, which can sometimes say more about a persons judgement of me than words. It also reflects how much room their mind and heart has left to open up, which I guess is everyone’s own personal journey to achieve. My tattoos sometimes mean I’m often the first person, a stranger on the street asks for a cigarette or a lighter (which is quite ironic as I’ve never smoked in my whole life).
As a tattoo collector how tattoo is important to express yourself?
I love shamelessly looking over the top and taking pride in my appearance, it must be the Leo in me. I love the fact that I am able to individually and prominently express my interests and appreciation for art, visibly on my skin. I feel like I can weightlessly carry so many memories on me everywhere I go, and I will never be able to lose or misplace them. I love that I am able to assist people to express themselves in the same way. Some of my tattoos have sentiments attached, and some of them I chose just because I loved it on an aesthetic level. Some people believe a tattoo has to have meaning, and some contest that it shouldn’t; but I believe that both are perfectly valid reasons for getting a tattoo. Either way you are expressing who you are, and interpreting part of yourself into a visual display on your skin.
@Disintegrationxvx Alexis Hepburn Alfred Street Tattoo, Gold Coast Australia
