Rule Breaker

Esther Garcia plays by her own rules — she always has and always will. Even with two decades of experience, the Chicago-based artist still finds ways to push herself and innovate. Whether it’s juxtaposing two unexpected styles (she fuses blackout work with botanical imagery inspired by Dutch Masters beautifully) or offering a unique tattoo curation service in which she doesn’t actually tattoo, Garcia isn’t afraid to take risks. What else is up her sleeve? We tracked her down to find out.

- Barbara Pavone

“In an effort to keep a good life balance, and preserve my health and sanity, I’ve made a lot of decisions that aren’t typical for the tattoo world,” admits Esther Garcia.

Decisions like the one to stop accepting client requests. “I exclusively offer my own projects for people to choose from,” she says, explaining, “The primary benefit is that I get to work with clients who are very comfortable with my process. Even if they are not experienced tattoo collectors, they have done their research and are happy to put themselves in my hands.”

It may be an unconventional approach, but it has certainly been a fulfilling one. “It’s an honour and a joy to work like this and it’s great to show up for work and know we’re both so excited to be there,” she continues. “I used to feel so much pressure to ‘mind-read’ to some degree, to please the client — this method seems to sidestep that entirely, so I can rest easier and do my work in a more relaxed frame of mind.”

What’s more, “it allows me to guide the content of my portfolio and be very specific about the techniques and skills I am working on. When I want to add a new technique to my toolbox, I can offer projects that allow me to carefully experiment until I have mastered the technique, then I can highlight it in my next offerings.”

So, about twice a year, Garcia posts designs to her website for fans to snap up and “when the resulting tattoos and their spin-offs aren’t keeping me busy enough, I’ll offer more. I feel more lively and creative when I work this way and it shows in my tattoos,” she notes, revealing, “I don’t think I’ll go back to generally opening my books for client submissions again — I’m enjoying myself way too much this way!”