Take a pinch of realism, add a dash of pop culture, mix them together and you get ‘avant-garde realism’. This is how Carolina Caos Avalle defines her work. Working out of Royal Ink Collecti-ve in Voghera, Northern Italy – a shop founded with her partner Stefano Galati, at thirty-something, Carolina took a while to perfect her technique. Building on her experience as an illus-trator, she has created her own style of strikingly colorful pop art collages.
Hi Carolina, so tell me, how did you become a tattooist ?
In high school I majored in Psychology, then I went to the IED Design & Fashion school in Milan. After that I worked as an illustrator on books and graphic novels for a while. 10 years ago I met Stefano Galati and we’ve been co-running the shop since 2014. He was already passionate about the world of tattooing and he passed that on to me. For the first few years we concentrated on the drawing and design of the tattoos. We went to con-ventions and watched other tattoo artists. We started out as self-taught, tattooing on synthetic lea-ther and a lot of friends. It wasn’t easy learning on our own. We really tried to train ourselves, but it wasn’t as simple as today. You couldn’t find videos online and the profession was still pretty restricted. You need a lot of determination, passion and modesty. We still have a lot to learn, and that will always be the case.
How did you create and develop your current style ?
Over the first few years, I tried to learn and develop different styles, I drew a lot and studied diffe-rent tattoo artists. From Japanese to cartoon, realism to old school, occasionally. Color and black and white, trying to learn as many techniques as possible. I started with small pieces, simple stuff, with a really low voltage on the machine and a lot of patien-ce. It took me 3-4 hours just to do a tiny tattoo ! I did my first tattoo on Stefano.
Why do you call your style ‘avant-garde realism’ ?
Because it’s the sum of my studies and my persoanl history. Graphic design, illustration, cartoons and realism interlock and mix together, and within the chaos, they find order. I get inspiration from everything around me, from the TV, graphic novels and comics, ads, art, street art etc....Everything inspires me in my projects. Usually when I’m designing my work, I ask my clients to tell me their story and explain what they want to express with their tattoo : a specific time of their life, an experience, passions and moods. With all that information, I start building the project. Sometimes it takes a few hours, other times much longer. When I meet a client, we analyze the project and my interpretation of the story by creating a very strong empathetic connection…they trust me, they open up to me and I become the narrator and illustrator of their life on skin. Sometimes getting a tattoo becomes almost therapeutic because people tend to tell someone from outside their everyday life about the difficult or painful moments that have touched them in a diffe-rent way but which is also a part of who they are.
Where does your inspiration come from ?
I’ve been painting and drawing since childhood. It’s become a physical necessity for me, like slee-ping or eating.
You also paint. How are your paintings different from your tattoos ?
My paintings are very different from my tattoos because I enjoy playing with new techniques. When I was at school, I used to shut myself away in my room for days and do nothing else except draw. When I draw and paint, I convey my state of mind, which is often troubled because I’m never sati-sfied with what I do. I love doing children’s illustrations where I give free reign to my wilder and dreamier side. This passion was passed on to me from my mother who used to tell us fairy tales as children, and often drew for us. That’s why I went back and developed my painting when we were closed due to Covid. I got out my brushes and started to paint again, it became my new obsession, day, night, sometimes for 10-12 hours straight. When I’m working, it’s difficult to keep up with the painting so I really took advantage of the time we had. It was incredibly satisfying to receive so ma-ny orders from people who wanted to buy my work. When this pandemic is over and everything has gone back to normal, I’d like to organize an exhibition.
You’re sponsored by brands linked to tattooing, can you tell us a little bit more about that ? What kind of brands ? Why use your image ?
Right now I’m sponsored by brands such as Cheyenne, Hustlebutter Killer Ink and Dermalise. I only collaborate with authentic brands who are, according to me, the best at what they do. They are products that I use and recommend.
Is travel important to you, in more ‘normal’ times ?
I’ve always enjoyed travelling and my work allows me combine both. Before the pandemic, I had several trips planned, that sadly had to be cancelled. I hope I’ll be able to rebook them soon. I’d love to travel to the US for work and pleasure.
What’s your favourite memory of travel and tattooing ?
I have so many great memories. One of the best is when we went to Germany to participate in Ryan Smith’s "The Kaos Theory Project ». It was such a great experience. Exceptional tattooists collabo-rated to create tattoos with each other. I worked with and got to know Guido Smith and Giovanni Gta, two great people who I’m still in touch with. I was lucky to work with some really talented tat-too artists. The best personal trips I’ve done have been in Asia, in incredible places. I had dreamed of visiting Japan since childhood, and I went I actually went there, it was a dream come true. It’s an amazing place andI hope I can go back there soon… but the next country on the list is Vietnam. https://www.instagram.com/carolinacaosavalle/
