Today we’d like to introduce you to Eduardo Torres.
Hi Eduardo, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
My art journey started while I was attending high school (2007) during a confusing and turbulent time in my life. My parents were going through a divorce as I was beginning to understand and explore my identity and sexuality. So, I began my art journey by doodling intricate geometric patterns and mandalas. There was something calming, and meditative, about the repetitious and tedious nature of these designs. I found peace, the ability to process difficult emotions, and saw a significant improvement in my self-esteem! Since art came to me at such a crucial time in my life, and since it became integrated in my emotional processes, art ultimately remained just that – personal. At the end of every day, for years, I would take out my sketchbook, and like a diary, doodle my emotions away.
In 2014, I was helping my partner at the time look for a tattoo artist, he wanted to get his first tattoo. We visited several tattoo shops, and each time, I was blasted with a feeling of “I don’t belong here”. Some shops felt too hyper-masculine for me, others seemed to have been inconvenienced by our presence, and a handful of shops felt overall unwelcoming. The process of finding a tattoo artist quickly became a daunting task. One shop we visited seemed to have been like any other, but on our way out, I stumbled upon one artist’s station.
Their work was so soft, so fluid, and I saw so much of my work in it. I could tell this artist used art as an emotional outlet. I knew that this artist would be welcoming and loving. Suddenly, I wanted a tattoo myself. I got their Information and booked an appointment.
Regina Perez was the first professional artist I met and interacted with. In my email to her, I told her “I just want one of your mandalas”, in which she responded with a flurry of questions, all meant to get to know me better. When I showed up to my appointment, she showed me my design – a beautiful mandala, just like I asked. However, she then sat me down and explained every component in the design. This wasn’t just a mandala, but a mandala tailored to me. Regi included everything she learned about me into the mandala – my zodiac sign, my life path number, aspects of my numerology, symbology important to me, and even looked at my own work and included features I incorporate in my own drawings. She then walked me through the tattoo process before we started, and made the process itself seamless and gentle. The way she tattooed, oddly enough, was full of love. This experience was literally life-changing for me. I saw myself in Regi, and I began to share and explore my work, and my emotions in them, further.
2017 came, and I built up the courage to reach out to Regi and inquire about an apprenticeship with her. Anyone in my life can attest to resolve at this time. “I will -NOT- become a tattoo artist if it isn’t with Regi” I would say haha. Turns out that what I saw in her work back then, she saw in mine, and she took me in as her apprentice in 2018.
I started apprenticing at Studio Nami, a studio built by Regi and like-minded artists, born out of the need for studios in Miami that empower both their artists and their clients. Here, the most important thing I learned about tattooing, other than the technicalities behind tattooing, is that Tattooing is whatever I want to make it out to be. I learned that what makes a good tattoo artist isn’t necessarily their skill in art, but their morals and values. One can learn to improve their craft more easily than one can learn to be a good and genuine person. Since then, Regi retired, and Studio Nami was rebranded.
Today, I find myself continuing this legacy through my own lens.
As a queer tattoo artist, I aim to provide a safe space for everyone. My goal is to “make tattooing whatever I want it to be”. A space where voices will always be heard. Where every person, everybody, will be seen and empowered. I aim to provide a space where people are freely educated to empower themselves in making an informed decision. Where one can be as open and vulnerable as one would like to be, without judgement. My ultimate goal is to create community through tattooing and to create a space for creatives of all kinds.
“Love” is the driving force behind my vision, and community is the goal.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The main obstacles were my finances, my family, and myself.
Before jumping into tattooing, I graduated FIU with three Bachelor’s degrees – Architecture, History, and Women’s studies with a minor in Queer Theory. I also held a career path job as an Education and Outreach Coordinator in a performing arts center. Choosing tattooing was to let all this go, take a leap of faith, and start anew in an industry that doesn’t guarantee success. Financially, I had to survive off credit cards and part-time jobs wherever I could find them while I underwent a rigorous apprenticeship.
Because of this, my family had its reservations. It was important for my family that I attended university and obtained a degree to have a career. Choosing to let go of all that I worked towards was a hard thing to accept, and having previously come out a gay just a couple of years before, it felt that I was being perceived as a failure at times. Choosing tattooing caused insecurity in my family as well as I momentarily became unable to assist financially with family matters. This caused a bit of a rift between my immediate family and I for some time.
Finally, the biggest obstacle was myself.
In order to tattoo my art on someone’s body permanently, I had to really and truly tackle some demons head-on. I not only had to relearn how to draw in order to create tattooable designs, I had to restructure how I think, how I feel, and how I process. I had to learn to create healthy boundaries between myself, my loved ones, the strangers I didn’t know that I wanted to love and share my space with, and most importantly, boundaries with my work. One could have never prepared me for how mentally taxing my apprenticeship was going to be. It was just as important for my lines to be straight as it was for me to have a good head on my shoulders.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a tattoo artist!
tattooing for me is an exchange of energy. I receive thoughts, emotions, and intentions to funnel them into a design and implement them.
This exchange of energy is something I honor to the max degree, and thus, my tattooing revolves around it. I provide a safe space that is open and empowering. A client can be sure to always feel heard, be informed, and have a gentle and welcoming experience.
“Love” and “Community” is the driving force behind my identity as a tattoo artist.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Finding a mentor is like finding “the one” haha.
My advice will come in form of questions, and the best advice I have to offer is following your gut.
-First, look at their work. Does their work align with yours? Do you feel connected? Do you see yourself having or wanting to have a similar style to their work? What are they tattooing? Who are they tattooing? GET a tattoo from them! Did you enjoy your experience? Do you see yourself providing what it is they provided?
-What are their morals? Do they only tattoo a certain demographic? Are there things they wouldn’t tattoo? What parts of themselves do they share with the world on social media? What do they stand for?
-What is tattooing to them? Is it just cool? Do they value traditional tattoo culture? Do they value newer versions of tattoo culture? Would they gatekeep tattooing? What do they find important in tattooing? Do you align with all of these things?
-Do they want to be a mentor? How can you show this artist that you are worth their time to educate? What do you provide? What can you do to show this artist you are serious? Should you work on a portfolio? Social media? What are you doing that will stand you out from the rest?
Finding a mentor in the tattoo industry is easy. You can even pay for an apprenticeship. Finding the right mentor is extremely difficult. I ever only suggest finding the right mentor, because the right person for you will build you up in ways you never thought you could be built up before. Tattooing is so much more than body modification; it is so much more than just art. Find that. Don’t stop looking.
Contact Info:
- Website: Wafflesworthart.com
- Instagram: Wafflesworth
