Rising Stars: Meet Laura Meneses of Westside

Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Meneses

Hi Laura, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Since I was very young, I have been close to the world of tattoos, but I saw it from a distance, with a lot of respect. Art, however, has always been a part of my life and it was one of the ways I had -and still have- to create my own reality and have a space of freedom. It was not until I moved to Denmark that I was able to fully devote myself to tattooing and dedicate my life to it. I had just studied philosophy for 12 years, and I thought I would continue studying. I was looking for a PhD in Denmark. I was happy in my professional life, as a philosophy teacher, but practicing abroad was something difficult to do. Now I am grateful to have been in an uncomfortable situation, which led me to take the risk of deciding to live off of art, which had always been my dream.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I don’t think anything in life is easy to do. Even being born is such a struggle. I deeply admire all professions and occupations because I know that whoever is there has worked hard and fought for that place. In this way, tattooing is not exempt from ups and downs and difficulties. However, I must recognize that, all in all, I have been very fortunate to have been surrounded by talented but also humble people, who have respected my learning process and were open to teaching me what was within their reach. Denmark is also a particular country, very advanced in terms of labor rights, so I had the privilege of having started in a country where learning was considered a job. Despite the difficulties that this industry can have, I am grateful to be part of it.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a tattoo artist and I specialize in color tattoos. I am particularly interested in surreal images. Art is, for me, not only a physical creation but an existential one. As long as you create, you create yourself. And that is the power of tattooing. You create the way you want to be perceived. Both the person who gets tattooed and the person who tattoos are creators of realities. I try to represent that in my tattoos. The possibility we have to imagine infinite worlds, which go beyond this one, but which are born from the life experience we have. I believe that the experience of living is complex and ineffable, but I try to transform that ineffability of mine and my clients into images. I believe that what makes me different is the philosophical and literature background I have and that I use in each design. I use that background to find words and images that express something difficult to express: a feeling, a situation, a memory, an experience.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I don’t think I see my life without risks. My real fear is not taking life as a gift and not taking the necessary risks. One of the biggest risks I took was studying a career (philosophy) that, we all know, is not very welcome in a world ruled by profit. Thinking is definitely not the center of our society, nor is it what we admire the most. However, I think it is one of the best decisions I have made, because it makes up a large part of who I am. A bigger risk was leaving something I loved for something I dreamed of. I always wanted to make a living from art and I wondered what my life would be like if I could do it. I must admit that I was scared, but I am happy to have taken the risk and to be able to say today that I am a tattoo artist. Another big risk I took was to go on a trip with my husband, around the world. We didn’t have clients in other countries, but we took the risk and we traveled for two years through the Europe, Asia and a bit of Africa.. I was very scared, in my head everything could go wrong: not having clients, not having anything to live on, being on the other side of the world and not knowing anyone. Putting yourself in that state of vulnerability is very scary. But it has also taught me that it is in that state that we meet the nicest people, those who want to be vulnerable and who appreciate your humanity for what it is. So what I can say about risk is that you lose more by not taking it than by taking it. The fear will always be there, but we decide what to do with it.

Pricing:

• 180$/h

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vaciotattoo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vacio.tattoo