We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ceka Kitami . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ceka below.

Ceka , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

When opening my studio (Yokatta Studios) I have thought deeply about the things I describe in the question I answered about a pivot in m career.

When I opened my studio (Yokatta Studios) I was very intentional to bring together all of my prior experiences and implement gems I have picked up along the way.

I wanted to create an environment at Yokatta Studios where an established artist could take ownership over their career but not be burdened with the responsibility of owning their own studio. I projected my expenses and copied a model from a studio I worked in briefly that had a rent structure. It was difficult at first to know how to even furnish the studio since the artists would be totally independent yet I wanted to have a cohesive aesthetic to the whole place that was pleasing for any of our clients to walk into. I was lucky that Dahlia Guttierez believed in the vision and was willing to rent a station as she is wildly successful in her career and could work anywhere. The studio has been open for a full year and I have been slow to put more artists in, even though we have the room. In a creative space thethe ecosystem (or vibe) is quite sensitive. in a creative space and I have to be very careful about disrupting it with personalities that don’tdont mix. After a year of waiting to meet the perfect addition to the studio I decided to pivot,  and see if I could couple my desire to apprentice someone and the need for more artists. I took on Alyssa Lin as an apprentice and e, and using everything that I mentioned beforeh I am attempting to give have attempted to give ample enough guidance free from the usual apprenticeship timeline. Normally an apprentice will Where someone provides labor for a shop/ artist for 1-2 years before learning to tattoo. After earning her stripes doing odd jobs around the shop and drawing exercises Alyssa She is now on her 5th tattoo and it looks better than my 50th tattoo so this approach seems to be working. I always think of the Thai restaurant I worked at when I was 16 and how they taught me the skill of waiting tables that has helped me make a living for many years after, I want to provide the skills necessary for financial stability and freedom for someone else and hope to duplicate the way I taught Alyssa for a few more artists. I think I came up with a fair model of compensation that hopefully will allow her and the other people who learn from me an opportunity to also start to pay rent at Yokatta Studios.

Ceka , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started my journey as a tattoo artist about 9 years ago. Someone (who was notoriously a schemer and interested in garnering free tattoos) made the suggestion that I learn to tattoo since I knew how to draw. This person had a pattern of selfish intentions so they were really just saying I should tattoo so I would tattoo them. Yea, they never got their free tattoos but gladly it inspired a whole career! When I got/ was given the idea to tattoo I was on a leave of absence from a graduate program at University of Michigan. I became really was really aware I had made a mistake by entering the program. Even though the program I was in had a full scholarship plus stipend I dreaded the years ahead to make use of the degree I would receive. With an MFA the most ideal situation would be to become a professor at a University but the road to get there was arduous. I was teaching Undergrads as part of my fellowship and found them entitled and disinterested in the lessons that I would pour my heart into implementing. During my leave I got a seasonal job cashiering at Sephora and soon was promoted to makeup artist. I quit school, my friends cautioned me about quitting a program at an elite university to work at the mall but mall pretzels won over educational anxiety. While working as a makeup artist I would hear complaints from people who said that there weren’t many artists who were competent in applying makeup to deep skin tones. Color matching and color theory were both something I was very familiar with so foundation matching and camouflage came easily to me and the rest I intentionally learned from others and taught myself. I have carried this practice over into my tattoo career and unfortunately hear the same complaints from clients. They have said that many tattooers don’t have experience with richly melanated or “dark” skin tones and some completely lack any diversity of skin shades in their portfolios. I’ve heard horrible recounts of experiences where clients have been told that their skin was difficult and their ideas were impossible to do as a result. Unfortunately there seems to be no lack of self important tattooers who will lecture someone about their own skin tone that they have lived in their entire life. And while I am no means an expert I have attempted to make myself competent and remain curious about techniques that allow me to be dynamic when approaching skin. These techniques can be geared towards texture, elasticity, hydration levels, reaction to trauma and of course skin tone/ melanin levels. It’sIts unfortunate that inclusion and aptitude of diverse skin tones has been associated with political leanings, when skin is actually indelibly tied to the profession of tattooing. I’ll admit and you can probably tell that I do have left leanings,probably just by looking at me,  but my politics are notthis is not the primary reason I want to display competence over various skin tones. , Rather, it is more of an artistic and professional drive to have the most quality tattoos for my clients and give each person an enjoyable experience. The result of this is that it is inclusive because.. , well… that’sthats just professional… and like what it takes to just be a good human, you know what I mean? Like of course equity is important to me personally, but for artists who don’t share that passion I would think that competence of the medium / that is of skin would be something everyone would want to have?

I’ve found I would prefer to have my tattoos be the focus of my practice

This is increasingly harder to do since social media drives an attention economy that favors identity and lifestyle over what artists produce. Tattooing in particular has been impacted by social media, good and bad.

The tattoo industry has been impacted positively by giving tattoo artists a global stage to display their work and measure it against what others are producing. It also allows artists some autonomy over their work and raises the bar artistically by allowing artists to see new innovations and rising standards. And like with most things there is also a downside, that while the level of art being created is at a highpoint- tattooing can seem to be less about tattoos and more about persona. Don’t get me wrong, for me when I get tatttooed I have to like the person I’m spending all that time with, when I say persona I dont mean personality . You should want to know your tattoo is a good human.  I mean mostly their online persona. I’m by no means shaking my fist at those who capitalize on fame, and I’m thankful that fame of some can buoy up the rest of us. But what I do take issue with is the veneer that there is some sort of valor involved, do you know what I mean? I’m trying to say, yes ride that algorithm! but let’s not pretend attention doesn’t create capital. And at this moment in time, in tattooing… identity/ persona precipitates attention and attention drives income. There’s a whole “attention economy” where success is made with capitalist ideals.  I try to remain cognizant of and transparent about that. (I’ve been thinking about this after studying the work of philosopher Olufemi O. Taiwo)
I’m just sharing what I’ve found comfortable for myself, I’d like to make a living practicing excellence in my work, you know?  like I relate more with the nerds than the popular kids. But I digress

Its important to me that I can provide tattoos in a clean and relatively calm environmentenvirnonment so I try to keep Yokatta Studios relatively clutter free, ‘airy” and private (meaning right now we only do “walk in tattoos on occasion, most days are appointment only). Over the last 5 years had been concentrating on fine- line tattoos although the meaning of this has changed over the last 3 years. I notice people are using the term “fine- line” for tattoos that don’t have shading and only are an outline using a small needle grouping. The type of tattooing I do is fine-line by technique, not necessarily outlines with a thin line weight. The origins of the term fine-line come from tattoos done by and for Chicano people, most of this was practiced in prisons. Incarceration necessitated invention and machines were built using rotary motors taken from beard trimmer and walkman audio tape players. These machines powered needles made from guitar strings that had a very fine point and a soft application. The sharpened end of a guitar string was finer (thinner) than many of the “liner” needles that were popular in professional tattoo applications of the time. Furthermore these tattoos were considered sub-par to the tattoos that were being done by more established, professional and overwhelmingly white and male tattooers, many of these prison artists were excluded from working in professional shops after their release. ( much of this is described in the book Smile Now Cry Later by Freddy Negrete) So to me my style of tattooing is considered fine-line in technique tied to this history and because it is predominately black and gray and uses a single needle or a small grouping of needles for the application. People come to me for my micro realistic tattoos and especially for my small dog portrait tattoos . I enjoy doing these and I really feel fortunate I can making a living by looking at and rendering pictures of cute puppies.

I am also known for floral and botanical tattoos. Lately I have been doing larger pieces and coverups. The larger pieces are still very detailed, the clients and I look at these like puzzles and work together to compose a larger tattoo made of interlocking images. The coverups have been another welcome challenge. The best ones happen when the client is flexible enough to allow me to realize a new image out of the empty spaces left by the tattoo we are covering. Composing using the shapes made by the non tattooed areas, a trick I learned from Billy Baca and making images that neutralize the shape of the existing tattoo, that is a trick I learned from Owen Connell. Since I was interested in black and gray and also had spent much of my youth amongst graffiti artists it was also natural that I learn lettering.In 2020 I got to know lettering artist Jessie Fora and she has generously taught me and guided me into expanding my knowledge to the study of calligraphy. Most recently I learned and am practicing MadaraszMadaraz , and Modern style calligraphy. Taught by Schin Long and Amanda Reid (respectively)

Lettering and Script tattoos are very challenging but I am fascinated by their form and function. Script tattoos are very accessible to both the viewer and the wearer, if you speak the language and have the ability to see then they can be easily understood. Or if its in a language that cant be understood then the form of the words can be enjoyed on their own. Whether its a name tattoo, poem, religious text or song lyrics lettering tattoos can be used to highlight or distract from the body part they inhabit. I save a few days a month to allow clients to book themselves for palm sized lettering tattoos or for my pre-drawn flash designs. The booking link can be found on my website or my IG bio.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

In the case of a conventional tattoo shop normally the artists are private contractors who agree to pay a commission to the shop for each tattoo that is done. This model used to work well when artists needed to glean clients by way of the shop. For example the shop would put efforts into advertisement and at times have a front desk person that would streamline customer service interactions. Most artists are on a 60/40 commission and at a walk-in/ “street” shop many are on a 50/50 commission. This means that if an artist charges 100 for your tattoo they get to keep 60 or 50 dollars (respectively). With the rise in popularity of social media and just rising costs in general many shops no longer had to advertise for their artists. Furthermore many artists have preferred the autonomy of managing their own schedules and procuring their own clients etc. Even though in most shops tattoo artists are contractors many artists felt a sense of loyalty to the shops they worked at. I definitely shared that sentiment and felt as if I was betraying a shop if I decided to leave/ move on. The old subculture of tattooing also bolstered this notion of loyalty over artists often acting on unspoken social norms of not allowing artists to change shops within a certain geographic radius etc..

I believe the independence that social media and self promotion brought myself and many artists to a certain point that made me seek more autonomy from the traditional style tattoo shops. However I was not willing to take the plunge because of the work culture that I was familiar with as a tattooer, I wasn’t willing to break many of the old school norms that kept me in a traditional shop. When the pandemic hit, I experienced a reckoning with my relationship with work in general. I had been working since I was 14 years old and have never spent that much time, not being able to work. My friend Jess described the moment the pandemic hit as musical chairs, wherever you were when the music stopped that was where you were for the duration. I was very fortunate that when the music stopped I was at a shop that was incredibly accommodating and concerned with safety. The owner allowed us a very relaxed commission and work schedule when it was time to return to work and I will forever be thankful for her efforts. However when I was at home unable to work for 2+ months I really thought alot about my relationship to work and how the person I was without work felt gentler, kinder and happier. I contemplated the commission structure and wanted more ownership over my labor. I was one of the millions of other people who were also given a moment to evaluate my labor and its value, and more importantly my leisure and the value that adds to my life.

I benefited greatly by working for some very renowned artists who owned shops and it is because of their promotional efforts were the kindling for my success. However young artists today are far more savvy than I was when starting out and don’tdont seem to need the boon from an outside entity like a shop or well known artist, or at least for the duration thaartit used to require to gain notorietynotariaety.

this informed the way that I structured my studio and built my team. I was afraid if I let go of the “grind” mentality then my work ethic would decline. It turns out my work ethic is a fixed personality trait and had nothing to do with overworking.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

 In my opinion the “market” or field has two components in my opinion 1- the industry at large people who make tattoos and

2- clients who are consumers of tattoos

I learned early on that the US tattoo industry is pretty small. Increasingly there are supply corporationscorperations that have no connection with tattooers, like there is no one in the company who has or does actually tattoo, but for the most part the network and pool of artists is a tight knit matrix of personalities. For this reason I have done my best not to burn bridges, to attempt to repair disagreements and be professional and act with respect and as much deference as I can muster.

I also try to travel as much as I can. Being a guest artist in shops around the country has helped me meet new people and enjoy exploring the various “vibes’ of each shop I visit. Each one has an individual identity and most fascinatingly its own eco system. As you can imagine a room full of creative people can be either intoxicatingly serene and energetic, or can spiral into a competition of fragile egos and a snake pit of resentments. Overwhelmingly my experiences have been positive and I have taken pearls from each interaction that I use now in the practice of my studio, equipment, technique and my customer service habits. Equally as important I come home from each trip learning something new about technical and artistic applications in tattooing.

As far as clients are concerned I do my best to make sure each interaction is treated with care and concern . I give clients a few options for contact and consulting and do my best respond to emails in a reasonable amount of time. . I do all the operations of the studio so sometimes I a limited by the amount of hours in a day but can rank things in order of emergence. I really honestly do like people and while i’m notim not super talkative (I can tend to get in a zone when I work)  I am intentional to treat each person with care and respect. My clients work hard for their money and choose to spend it with me sometimes having to miss work to make the appt, so I do what I can including taking care of myself so I have the energy to take care of them and give them the best I have.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cekakitami.com
• Instagram: @cekatattoo

Image Credits
Virginia Hernandez