Today we’d like to introduce you to Malakai Garcia
Hi Malakai, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Art in any form has been a prevalent part of my life since I was a child and it was used as a form to share my internal feelings without having to say too much out loud. I have always loved being able to create and share my artwork with those around me; I eventually started to oil paint and as I got older I wanted to do more in the art community, along side oil painting I realized I wanted to start tattooing. I started my first apprenticeship around 2019 and that was the beginning of my tattoo story. I have worked towards dedicating my entire life to what I do and creating an environment where all walks of life feel nothing but comfort, as that’s always been an important factor to me as a tattoo artist.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I faced many struggles in the beginning as my apprenticeship was truly a hard time. I had to drop out of college (at the time) and leave all jobs because I was forced into a state of putting every walking hour I had into my apprenticeship, otherwise I was viewed as not taking tattooing seriously. I was there from the morning to the next morning, sometimes. I was hazed, and made fun of at times and even felt burnt out and considered if this was something I wanted to continue to pursue as I was only 19/20. I continued to work hard and push myself because I knew this was where I wanted to be even what I was put through. I ended up doing this for about two years or so and moved on to a better path for myself. I am glad I went through what I did as I did learn many things about the tattoo community and about myself, on a deeper level. I am now almost done graduating from college with a Bachelor of Arts and a minor in Sociology; along side being a tattoo artist.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a tattoo artist who loves to oil paint. My passions or styles through out the years have included surrealism, traditional, and horror/dark themes related to art. I enjoy learning about art history, at some point I wanted to pursue being an art history professor whilst tattooing. All the eras of art history are inspiring to me and shape a lot of the ways I come to create many of the pieces I do. I am proud of myself in how far I have come and the people I have met along the way who continue to inspire me to create a better version of myself and my art. I believe my artwork and my energy is what sets me apart from others. I truly want to create a space for those who haven’t or continue to not have a good experience with tattoo artists, as we all have unfortunately. What I want my clients to experience when you walk out, is feeling good about yourself and the artwork that was put on you. I believe every piece of artwork big or small, matters. I will never stop striving to make my clients the best artwork that is unique to them while still representing me.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
The most important thing I have learned is to never stop creating. Sometimes you feel so stressed or burnt out with the unfortunate circumstances that get placed on us or the world around us, but the only option is to create because that is what shaped us from the beginning.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delusionaltattoo/
