Background to Tattoos ; Body Piercing in Oaxaca, Mexico, Through the Eyes of a Lawyer

Lawyer Kaireddyn (Kai) Orta began fabricating his own, rudimentary tools for making tattoos in 1996, while still in high school here in Oaxaca, Mexico. The neighbor was the recipient of Kai’s first tattoo. Kai then began doing tattoos for his schoolmates.

Kai had been interested in tattoos (tatuajes) and body piercing (perforación) since boyhood. Kai ate it up.

But throughout Kai’s youth, seeing tattoos in the flesh was a rarity.

The modern tradition of tattoos and body piercings had been established in countries such as Canada, the US, Spain and Britain, long before it arrived in Mexico. Change would begin to emerge in Oaxaca. Tattoos, body piercings and other non-traditional forms of self-expression had begun to be perceived as mainstream throughout the Western World. Oaxaca had to take notice.

Kai is thirty years old.

Kai’s current studio, Dermographics, in the heart of downtown Oaxaca, consists of:

“Here in Oaxaca we don’t refer to ourselves as ‘artistas,’ Kai explains.

Kai ; Colleagues Participate in Twelfth Annual Tattoo Fest in Oaxaca, Summer, 2010

During the course of a 3 ½ hour interview at Kai’s studio, his friends and fellow tatuadores from Mexico City, Daniel (Tuna) Larios and his girlfriend Angélica (Angy) de la Mora, were in the shop working and otherwise serving customers, while for part of the time Kai was out running errands.

Before then Tuna had been doing tattoos for customers at other studios. He was introduced to the trade from having had his body tattooed. Angy learned the skill from Tuna.

As distinct from Angy and Kai, most tatuadores in Mexico do not have advanced training for other career paths options.

Tuna and Angy had come to Oaxaca to participate in the twelfth annual Tattoo Fest, held on August 21 ; 22, 2010, a couple of days earlier.

The success of Oaxaca’s Tattoo Fest 2010 was evident from the crowds (hundreds by all estimates) and sales. Tuna and Angy between them did 11 tattoos over the two-day period.

• Tattooing and body piercing equipment, supplies and other paraphernalia • CDs, DVDs and posters all with alternative themes (both Bob Marley and Alice Cooper live on in Oaxaca) • Body piercing and other personal adornments, wrestling masks, and clothing, custom-painted while-u-wait.

It provided a chance for those in the business to promote their industry, source state-of-the-art and otherwise imported equipment and supplies (since many tatuadores don’t get to Mexico City very often, and most imported machinery, needles and paints arrive initially in Mexico City), and entertain tattoo and piercing collectors, aficionados, and the curious, all under one roof, the Salón Señorial located across from Oaxaca’s renowned Abastos Market.

As Kai contends, there appears to be three classes of people in Oaxaca, and presumably in other countries, who get tattoos:

Health ; Safety Issues a Concern of the Body Piercing ; Tattoo Trade in Oaxaca, Mexico

Throughout the US there are health and safety regulations relating to tattooing and body piercing; not so in Oaxaca, though it’s a hot topic throughout the Mexican tattoo and body piercing community. The tatuadores at Tattoo Fest, and more particularly Kai, Tuna and Angy, made a point of indicating that most in the industry follow US norms for health, safety and hygiene.

The threat or perceived threat of incarceration perhaps serves a positive function in the tattoo and body piercing milieu. Without specific laws relating to tattooing and body piercing, perhaps Oaxaca’s current legal system, as high-handed as it might appear, serves an important function for the tattoo-buying public.

According to Tuna, in Mexico City one can take courses in tattooing and body piercing at a couple of different institutions.

The Economics of Tattoos and Body Piercing in Oaxaca

Kai’s studio does a brisk business.

Kai and Tuna charge within the same range. Kai charges 1,000 – 1,500 pesos per session, which can result in a fairly substantial, detailed, color image. That seems to be the top price in Oaxaca.

Working on the same part of the body can affect men differently than women.” Only 50% of Tuna’s work is repeat business.

Advice for Americans, Canadians, Europeans and Those from Further Abroad Wanting a Tattoo in Oaxaca

Tuna admits that in Mexico there are perhaps two high quality tattoo artists per 300 tatuadores, stating that in the US the numbers are very different, two per hundred.

The triumvirate of tatuadores is ad idem when it comes to passing along advice for tourists visiting Oaxaca and wanting a tattoo:

Tattoo Removal in Mexico

Tuna confirms some obvious reasons for seeking to have a tattoo removed:

With the modest cost of quality plastic surgery in Oaxaca, tattoo removal in the state proves to be an attractive option for those wishing a return to a tattoo – free existence. In fact in Kai’s studio on display there’s a plexiglass stand filled with pamplets of a Oaxacan plastic surgeon, Dr. Filberto Fajardo, who specializes in laser tattoo removal.

Tattoo Artists in Oaxaca, Mexico – Lawyer, Fine Arts Graduate Make Strange Bedfellows With Tatuadore