Who Am I

I was born in San Felipe, Chile, a small city at the foot of the Andes Mountains. As far back as I can remember, I’ve loved drawing. Luckily, it was something that came naturally to me. At school, while my classmates were playing football during break, I was usually sitting somewhere drawing comics, warriors and whatever else came into my head.

I was fascinated by Walt Disney and loved watching programs that showed how their cartoons and stories were made. I could spend hours watching drawings turn into characters and stories. I think that’s where my curiosity about making things really started.

My journey into tattooing began with a rose. One day, my uncle came home from prison with a rose tattoo on his arm. I was fascinated and remember thinking, “You can draw under the skin!” A few years later, when I was around 17, I got into heavy metal. Like many teenagers at the time, I wanted tattoos and wanted to look tough like the guys in the bands. That’s how I ended up entering a world of ink, rock and adventures.

Almost 30 years later, I’m still tattooing.

But tattooing has never been the only thing I do. I’ve always been drawing and painting alongside it. In Chile, I painted supermarket price signs, shop fronts, kiosks and all kinds of things. In Argentina, I spent a few months learning special effects for film, including makeup and prosthetics. I thought it would be fun and it was. Over the years, I’ve also played around with airbrushing, T-shirt printing, stained glass and many other crafts.

I simply love making things with my hands. I love the character of handmade work, the little imperfections, the time, the patience and, most of all, the soul behind it.

There are so many talented people out there making amazing things, and I’m constantly inspired by them. I feel very lucky to have been able to make a living from something I love for almost my entire life.

I’m still curious, still learning and still enjoying the process. My passion for creating hasn’t gone away, and I can’t really imagine myself doing anything else.

And as they say in Spain: “Hasta que el cuerpo aguante!” , “As long as the body holds up”.