Hello Carolina! I want to tell you right away that it is an honor for us to have you in our magazine and to be able to share your art with our readers from all over the world! All your pieces are a delight! I am fascinated by colors, brightness, contrasts, designs, etc, etc... you are a great artist! I'll start with the first question.
How did you discover the tattoo? How many years have you been tattooing?
HI! Thank you so much for this opportunity!
12 years ago I met my partner Stefano Galati with whom I have been running a tattoo studio for about 10 years now. We started this journey together in 2012 as self-taught tattoo artists. When I first met him he had a coil machine that he'd only tried using a couple of times.
Do you remember what was your first tattoo and who? How was that first experience?
My first tattoo was on Stefano. On the foot. An anchor with two intertwined hands and the name Carol. it's still there haha
We didn't know it at the time but it would really have been the beginning of our union/collaboration in life and work.
Your first tattoos were always with various compositions or did it cost to define your style?
For the first few years I tried to go deeper, learn many different styles, drawing a lot and studying the various tattoo artists
From Japanese to cartoon, from realistic to sometimes even old school.
From color to black and white, trying to learn as much as possible from the various styles and techniques
Today it is the result of my studies and my approach to the different techniques.
I mix illustration, realism, graphics and painting trying to unite everything in a harmonious way
I have developed this style over the years, but I am constantly changing, changing.
I live in a state of perennial inquietness, I am never fully satisfied ... I am constantly looking for improvements in technique and style
Was it always the color or have you done Black and Grey?
The color came later. Before, yes, I tattooed in Black and Gray, realistic , but I've always tried to do things with a personal graphic, mixing various styles even at the beginning and with the color, at first, I approached the Watercolor and sketch tattoo.
How many years of artistic preparation have you had? Because those paintings are marvelous and without a doubt the art that is in you is reflected on any surface and it shows that you know what you are doing... Are you still studying?
Thank you so so much!!! I have been drawing since I was a very small child. My mother passed on this passion to me. When I was little he drew me the stories he told me in the evening. My mother has always had a great imagination. Then in my adolescence I became passionate about anime and manga and drew a lot. While my peers went out I was locked in my room always drawing and reading comics! haha I studied psychology, and I graduated from the European Institute of Design in Milan in illustration and multimedia animation. There were also courses in painting, life drawing, etc. I did countless jobs, in cartoon studios, for publishers, created graphics for various businesses and companies, even as a cake designer. I love to paint, but not for work.
I have always loved painting and illustration. Unfortunately managing to devote little time to it.
Tattooing takes up 90% of my time and life.
Today after a tour, how do you feel? Did you ever imagine being in this current moment, where many artists see you as a reference?
. Satisfied. I am happy with my life. About my job. Of the choices I've made. But also tired. Maintaining this pace is not always easy, sometimes stressful. But I've always been a person who needs to do. I can hardly sit still. I currently work in Italy and in the United States. Living and working in two different countries, with different people, completely different environments, different mentalities, sometimes it feels like you are living two lives at the same time.
I decided some time ago to get a work visa together with Stefano so that I could travel and work while travelling. I have always loved traveling and it has always been a great passion of mine. As a child my desire was always to become a drawing archaeologist. Work that I invented, i think,to be able to travel and draw together, I would say that I managed to reach my goal. Design, on the skin, and travel! Every time I spend a period in the United States I combine a few days off to visit and explore other places. There are so many places I would like to visit! I feel really lucky to be where I am now. I have worked so hard in life to achieve my goals, I have made many sacrifices and had total dedication to this work, often having to put aside affection or other life choices.
I'm happy to be a reference for other artists, I'm honored by it, I never feel up to being able to be though. haha
A technique that you say... "This changed my life"... one that you have discovered or that has been shared with you
I think that's when I started getting into color realism. But I don't remember how or when it happened. I think it was more of a journey. I tried to refine the technique more and more. Painting is essential in this case. And when there was covid, that period, it gave me the opportunity to study a lot
How is your day to day? Is there time to take off a bit from this profession or do you live and breathe tattoo 24 hours a day? Do you do another activity?
I actually didn't tattoo today. I finished working in NYC a few days ago and took a few days off, Stefano and I rented a car and in 4 days we crossed 4 states, from NY to Massachusetts, Rhode Island to Connecticut, we saw Woodstock, Salem , Mystic Sleepy Hollow and other places. I slept in an airstream and in a house from the 1600s. Now I'm waiting for my flight that takes me back to Italy where I'll stay until September. In September we will work in Los Angeles and in October in NYC
Tattooing takes up 90% of my time and life.
The sessions are always 6 to 8 hours long per session, without adding the previous preparation, the relationship with the client before, during and after the session, the explanation of the project, the preparation of the stencils, etc.
In addition to this, each of my projects requires a lot of work. From 10 hours up sometimes days. There is a lot of work behind every tattoo.
When a person looks for me for one of my tattoos, I ask them to tell me their story, what they would like to represent with the tattoo, what they would like to tell, moments of life, sensations, feelings, emotions, passions, pains, fears, books, films, songs, etc. I rework everything through my eyes. Every day we meet people, without thinking. But each of those people has their own story within them. It is an incredible thing that has always fascinated me. When I meet the client we analyze the project, my interpretation of his story, a connection is created... they trust me, they open up and I become the narrator and illustrator of their life, on their skin. People have the opportunity to tell someone outside of everyday life important difficult or painful moments or the opposite that have marked them in a particular way but which are part of who they are. I try to interpret the client's story as best as possible and it's not always easy, and I'm very self-critical, often after hours of work on the project I start all over again because I know I haven't done enough. I'm a very tormented person haha that's why sometimes it takes days to finish just one project. but then when I show it to the client it is often a great satisfaction, I have seen clients start crying, and feeling perfectly represented in it.
How's your travel life? You're from Italy, you're in the USA and what's next?
. I like traveling. But it's not always easy. In the last year we spend maybe a month or two in the US, then 1 or 2 months in Italy, I live in a different time zone and sometimes I wake up in the morning and it takes me seconds to figure out where I am. haha It's still challenging but really addictive.
When we chose to start this career path in the United States we had to work on an American work visa and obtaining it was not easy. It took us a year and a half and it was really stressful. There is a lot of bureaucracy that we still have to deal with today in order to be able to work in two different countries.
After that there will always be new places to visit and work. I would also like to go to Australia and New Zealand.
I see that you have a life partner, another great artist Stefano Galati, with whom you collaborate and experiment together making magnificent pieces. What is it like to share life, profession, art together?
Difficult! haha we've been living together for 12 years. after a couple of years we started working together, opened a business. We have two strong characters and we often clash. It's not easy. There are ups and downs. But in the end we never give up.
Often upon specific customer request we carry out collaborative works especially if the projects are very large. What unites us is a harmony found from the beginning both at work and in private life, perhaps also for this reason, having two totally different styles we are able to mix them together and find this harmony also in our projects. I take care of the illustrative, realistic part and of the setting of the project, Stefano more of the graphic aspect and the balance of the project on the interested part, studying its final shape, weights and balances based on the shapes of the body
Do you have future projects personally and professionally?
Always improving! take my work around the world!!Always live up to my clients' expectations.
but above all try to live life to the fullest. I always have the idea in my head how fleeting it is
How do you imagine in a few years? I want to think that continuing with your Volkswagen for sure hahaha
ahaha On the one hand I would like to have my own house with my cats, our Volkswagen and a small private studio there for both painting and tattooing.
On the other, continue to travel.
But I could do both.
We'll see what the future holds for me.
Tell me who or who would you thank and why?
My clients, who have trusted and trusted me over the years. All the people who supported and encouraged me. Above all Stefano, my partner, who since I've known him has always pushed me and believed in me sometimes much more than I believed in it. And my parents, who are always close to me in my journey, my mother who passed on to me her passion for drawing, her imagination, supports me and stays close to me even when I'm far away and even if my father (would have preferred to see me as an architect ahaha) I know that now he is proud of me and when I have some problems he always helps me, from him I took the initiative, constancy and an organizational head.
Last but not least: myself.
something you want to add
NEXT STOP:
-September: Los Angels- Inkology Art Gallery
Golden State tattoo Expo 2023 Pasadena, LA
-October: New York- Inked Tattoo shop
The New York Tattoo Convention, NYC
Elite Tattoo convention - Germany
-November and December: Italy- Royale INK
-Genuary: Italy, Royale INK
Milano Tattoo Convention 2024, Italy
-February: Tattoo Planetarium 2024-Paris
New York , Inked Tattoo Shop
-March, April, May, June: USA
How can they contact you?
Instagram : carolinacaosavalle
Facebook : Carolina Caos Avalle
Email : avallecarolina@gmail.com
Thank you for your time, for allowing us to show your art and share a little more about you.
Thank you too!!
Carolina Caos