Meet Nadia Shinkunas | Tattoo Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nadia Shinkunas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nadia, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I was born in San Bernardino, at the age of 5 my family moved to Northwestern Iowa, where most of my father’s side of our family lived. Even at the young age of 5, I knew I was leaving behind piece of my heart and I promised myself I’d make it back someday. Like many creative people, I was “the weird kid” – a magical unicorn full of wonder and curiosity, growing up in small midwestern towns full of nothing but dusty corn and hand me down overalls. I’ve thought about the affect my environment had on me and I’ve come to the conclusion that lack of exposure to the creative world severely intensified my craving for the unconventional. There was a bright star in the dull void, my mother- a very creative inventor (who moonlighted as a factory worker to pay the bills), and my father- a life long musician until he died shortly after being inducted to the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They both encouraged me anytime I created something, but witnessing the struggles of a lower-middle class family, I couldn’t imagine telling my parents I wanted to pursue a career that notoriously “starves”. When it came time to make a decision about my future, I tried a number of colleges, majors, jobs, focuses, and it all left me unsatisfied and not looking forward to my future at all. I gave up and reconciled myself to the fact my life would be an endless cycle of working and paying bills. This was until around 2010, when I was 25 or 26 and decided, with the help of my mother, that it was time to be real with myself and accept my desire to make art and possibly make that my life, somehow. So I went back to college, I had to start over with everything, at first I was going for architecture, and I still have a huge love for it, but I needed more freedom. I eventually found sculpture and got my Bachelors in Studio Art in 2014. During and after college I put on group art shows as a way to showcase the art I was making, network with other creatives, and give all my artist friends a place to show their work! I kept doing the shows until 2017, when I started experiencing severe pain in my arms and was unable to move them for days, ( I have since been Diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome) which caused me to quit my job at Costco and take a less strenuous job at a parking garage. At the same time, a friend that had been in most of my art shows opened his own tattoo shop and was looking for an apprentice. Having nothing to lose, I threw my hat in the ring and the rest is history! For the past 3 years I’ve been working as a professional tattoo artist and saving money with a vision to finally return to California and this last July I realized I had enough to make my dreams come true. I started looking for shops in So Cal and once again, I threw my hat in the ring and really lucked out. I emailed Black Raven Tattoo Gallery and heard back within like a day. The owner, Tiffany Garcia, set up a phone interview with me. We talked for about an hour and it felt like a great match so she invited me to work for her at her shop in Old Torrance. I was so overjoyed, I immediately started planning to move. I gave away most of my belongings, shoved what was left into my 05 Honda hatchback and headed west. Luckily I still have family here in So Cal, my cousin Annie (who has been Team – Nadia Comes Back to Cali – for several years now) supported my decision from the get go and let me live in her living room for 2 months until I luckily snagged a studio apartment in her building in Long Beach!
As far as style goes, I’m into everything. Although realism is beyond my current tattooing skill level, it is something I might delve more into someday. For now I’m focusing on making the world a little brighter with fun, colorful, fanciful designs. A lot has happened in the last 5 years and I think we could all do with a little more silliness and fun. I’m basically still a 5 year old just wanting to make and share art.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Like most tattooers, I’ve been an artist all my life. My professional art career started when I decided to own up to it and go to art school, having tried to lead a normal life- crashing and burning repeatedly. I started out studying architecture, when I had to take calculus, It felt like it might as well have been in written in German. I realized maybe architecture wasn’t for me because even if I miraculously landed a position in an architecture firm, I most likely wouldn’t get to even have a hand in building anything interesting. So I took what I learned from Architecture and switched my focus to sculpture. I was able to experiment with many different mediums while making 3D art. After graduating, I lost access to the sculpture lab and all the materials. I was living in a studio apartment, I didn’t have room for making sculptures so I satisfied my artistic craving by creating 2D paintings that appeared to be 3D. I then moved into an artist loft building where I worked on a few large projects including painting a public art sculpture for the city. Before diving back in to sculpture I got the opportunity to apprentice as a tattoo artist, and I’ve been focusing on tattooing ever sense. It’s a whole universe of craziness that I’ve just barely scratched the surface of, but I want to learn everything. It gets overwhelming at times, but I just remind myself if how lucky I am to be able to get to do this as a job. I try to not take myself too seriously and use each day as a way to learn something new.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’ve only been here 4 months so far, I’ve just settled into my apartment and job, and I’m a big weenie about being cold. So I have not explored very much yet. I did just go to my first revolving sushi restaurant and had a blast. So we’d probably do that, hit up some dispensaries and then head to the beach with some pizza 🙂

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shout out to Tiffany Garcia for taking a chance on a goofy little tatter tot 🙂

Website: https://www.blackraventattoo.com/artist-Nadia.asp

Instagram: @nadz_illa