Life & Work with Kyle Shrivastava

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Shrivastava.

Hi Kyle, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.

Sure thing. My name is Kyle Shrivastava and I’m a tattoo artist who focuses on geometric and ornamental designs and the owner of Found Tattoo in Fort Collins. My journey towards becoming a tattoo artist has been somewhat unconventional. I’ve always believed that being a working artist was one of the highest callings, but I had never seen the practical path to personally realize that dream. So, until my late 20s, I pursued a separate path in the international development non-profit sector.

I studied business as an undergraduate student, got my graduate degree in Conflict Resolution, served in the Peace Corps in Senegal and Liberia, helped establish a refugee-focused non-profit in Berlin, and eventually landed a job in Washington, DC. By all accounts, I felt that I was doing alright, but still as though something was missing.

In 2018 while on a work trip in West Africa, I was doodling in my notebook during a conference – feeling fatigued from the travel – and I decided then that I needed to pivot. I would switch careers to tattooing, no matter what it took. So I started taking art courses, getting up at 5 am to draw before work every day, then getting home and studying some more. I started getting tattooed more, reaching out to artists for advice, and generally just throwing myself at the industry in every way I could think of.

Fast forwarding a bit, my wife and I moved from DC to Colorado (where she grew up), and I gained access to a whole new and robust tattooing community that didn’t seem as readily available on the East Coast. With the guidance of several new informal and formal mentors, I continued to hone my art and eventually began tattooing myself, some close friends, and finally, some of my first clients. About a year later, I was offered a booth at Madé Tattoo and Mercantile in Denver.

Moving into a studio felt unreal to me. At that point, I had been studying and working for years with very little support or external validation to make a dream – that seemed crazy on my best days – come true. With the support of the team at Madé, I was able to really confidently come into the craft and have fellow artists with whom to discuss tattooing. The only challenge was that my wife and I had recently bought our house in Fort Collins (a place where we truly love living), and the shop was located in Denver.

This meant 2.5 to 3 hours of commuting down I-25 every work day. As much as I loved Madé and was willing to do essentially anything to carve out my place in the tattoo industry, I knew this arrangement wouldn’t be sustainable in the long term. So, after over a year and a half of commuting, I established my own studio – Found Tattoo – in Fort Collins.

I found an older building in midtown Fort Collins that had been an insurance sales office, and with the help of my amazing wife, Izzy, I transformed it into my dream studio. A place where I am able to truly put aside all the logistical distractions that had characterized my tattooing journey to this point and focus wholly on creating amazing art with my clients.

One of my guiding desires in creating Found was also to create a welcoming and atmosphere for clients. Being tattooed is a significant personal transformation, and I wanted to create a space that allows clients to enjoy the process as well as the result. With that in mind, we always have tea and snacks on hand and ensure that our processes are never rushed or needlessly uncomfortable.

So, in a nutshell, that’s how I got where I am at the moment. While my path has been a bit round-about, I’ve found that it’s put me in a unique position to try and create something for the tattoo industry that honors the tradition of the craft while also finding new ways to better relate with clients and create meaningful and transformative tattoo art.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

I feel as though my biggest challenge has been finding a clear path into the tattoo industry, specifically in terms of feeling accepted and finding reliable information.

In regard to feeling accepted, I am self/community-taught, and there’s a stigma against self-taught artists in the tattoo industry. This is partially well-founded in fear of teenagers buying machines off of Amazon and spreading diseases in their parents’ basements. However, this was definitely not my path. I spent years studying before touching a tattoo machine, spent months carefully considering every decision along the way, invested significant personal funds in building a safe studio space to learn in, and have spoken to countless artists and tattooers about the technical nature of their work.

To this day, I am always enrolled in at least one continuous learning opportunity, whether that be attending seminars, taking online courses, reading technical books, etc., which is a practice I plan to maintain throughout my career and life. However, I often feel as though none of this significant work is communicated when people hear the word “self-taught” or “community-taught.” And I understand why that is.

There’s no reference for most people to understand what my path has been or to judge its legitimacy without hearing my whole story, so I don’t intend to say this with any bitterness. For me, it’s just been a big mental barrier to overcome those snap judgments about this career that has been so personal to me, taken so much of me, and given me so much in return.

In regard to the second challenge of reliable information, I’m always fascinated by the lack of clear and consistent technical information within the tattoo industry. As a craft that’s evolved independently through many different traditions, there exists a very broad diversity of information that must be sifted through to be understood. People are tattooing and understanding tattooing in dramatically different ways. Some of it works well. Some of it doesn’t.

I think that ultimately, having sought out and been exposed to a range of tattooing approaches has given me a better holistic understanding of the practice. However, it has certainly been a more tiresome and less direct path to learning. I am also and hope to always be, still learning new techniques, approaches, and ways of thinking each day.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe you can tell us more about your work next?

I specialize in geometric and ornamental tattooing (for which I maintain two distinct portfolios). In my geometric work, I focus on clean, high-contrast compositions that use dotwork/pointillism to provide texture and depth. I’m currently focusing on blending natural elements, such as floral imagery, with traditional geometric elements, such as mandalas and tessellations.

In my ornamental work, I focus on how small ornamental elements (which could include things such as dots, leaves, small shapes, and fine lines) can be combined into formations that naturally fit and accentuate the curvatures of the body. In all my work, I strive to create tattoos tailored to their unique placement and fit.

Having worked in, and studied conflict resolution, I also maintain a particular focus on inclusivity and client comfort throughout my process. I’m always open to discussing any concerns or questions clients have, and believe that this type of healthy communication leads to the best tattoo outcomes. As the tattoo industry is in a process of modernization in many ways, I hope to be among the artists setting a positive new example and standard for client engagement.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?

I feel incredibly lucky and thankful to have many things that have allowed me to accomplish my goals and perform my ongoing work, including my amazing wife, loving family, and education. From a more operational perspective, I think luck (or perhaps more specifically, chance) is always present for better and for worse in all our lives, and our goal shouldn’t be to hope for good or bad luck but rather be prepared to capitalize on opportunities or address challenges when they appear.

For example, I didn’t have an opportunity to join a studio until I had been independently studying tattooing consistently for years. Was it bad luck that the opportunity didn’t come along sooner, good luck that I came eventually, or even better luck that I had time to form a solid foundational knowledge before it came? Probably all of the above? I really don’t know. All we can do is prepare so that when the opportunities come, we’re ready for them.

Pricing:

• My tattoos are priced by the piece, with factors such as size, amount of detail, placement, and needed materials considered. ​For pieces that can be completed within a day (typically up to six hours), prices currently range from $180 – $1,100. For multi-day pieces, I use $1,100 as a daily rate.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kyleshritattoo.com
• Instagram: Ornamental portfolio – @kyleshritattoo | Geometric portfolio – @kyleshrigeometry