Today's guest for our interview is a tattoo artist who has already amazed us twice. The first time, we were struck by her stunning graphic works that combined natural motifs of the impenetrable Siberian taiga forests with Slavic folklore, reminiscent of illustrations for adult fairy tales. The second time, during this interview, she amazed us with her worldview, awareness, and completeness of thought.
Her creative path is diverse, interesting, and filled with love for nature and human emotions.
Get comfortable, make some tea, and meet Stanislava Sarikova.
Let's start with introductions and our traditional questions. Tell me a bit about yourself. Where are you from, and where do you currently work?
- Hello! My name is Stanislava, and it so happens that the question of where I'm from puts me in a bit of a predicament, as I've had quite a few relocations.
I was born and raised in Tomsk, a university city in Siberia. In 2014, my parents gifted me tickets to St. Petersburg upon completing my bachelor's degree. After spending two weeks there, I realized it was the place where I wanted to live. A year later, I moved there, and that's where all my tattoo-related activities began.
I spent most of my time in St. Petersburg after the move, but for the past ten months, I've been on the go. Currently, I hold a modest role as a guest artist, and I occasionally visit St. Petersburg. I suppose you could say I'm combining the pleasant with the useful—completing existing projects while taking care of practical matters. However, I hope that the situation will change in the future, and I'll be able to provide a more specific answer about my workplace (laughs).
What led you to tattooing? Tell me how it all started.
- My journey into tattooing unfolded in three stages.
The first spark of interest came when I was in my second year of college in 2012. Tattoos weren't yet a widespread phenomenon, at least not in my region. The first VKontakte groups dedicated to tattoos were just emerging, tattooed models had a wow factor, and the first studios were opening in my city. From that point on, I was what you might call a tattoo enthusiast—I didn't get any tattoos myself, but I closely followed what was happening.
The next step towards tattoos was through clothing. I had already moved to St. Petersburg and was trying to figure out how to apply my existing knowledge, how to combine it with creativity, and still be able to cover my basic expenses.
That's when I decided to collaborate with a group of guys who were launching their streetwear line. They were looking for artists who could create prints, and that's how the world saw the first t-shirts with my designs. I must admit, the artwork from that time is quite different from what you can see in my current accounts. Back then, I was drawn to geometry, graphic and sometimes cartoonish illustrations, but the situation changed within just a couple of years.
In 2017, a friend and I decided to try creating our own clothing brand. We shared a similar worldview, had similar ideas of beauty and aesthetics, and we were determined to produce high-quality items that we ourselves would buy.
One of the prints for our collection was hand-drawn by me — a ram's skull with geometric elements, specifically designed for sweatshirts. It was around this time that I realized I truly enjoyed coming up with and creating things on my own, without working for someone else. Until then, I had a rather disappointing experience working in an office.
Our small brand lasted until mid-2018. During that time, we managed to produce several batches of clothing, I arranged shipments to a couple of cities in Russia, and we even collaborated with a tobacco pipe brand together with a tattoo studio from St. Petersburg. The story of the brand ended quite prosaically: both of us simply didn't have enough time for it, and by that point, tattoos had taken the forefront for me, making it difficult to devote time to anything else.
Is tattooing for you art, a job, or something else?
- For myself, I define it as a craft, and now I'll try to explain why.
I believe that tattooing as an activity encompasses a variety of approaches. On one hand, it is simply a skill, and every tattoo artist (hopefully) strives to improve the quality of their work. This involves making lines more precise, coloring faster, monitoring the healing process of tattoos, refining drawing techniques, and so on. This is what can be called a simple "skill." On the other hand, tattoos are how we make a living, so it's a job in the most classical sense of the word. And from another perspective, each of us (or at least the majority) aims to express ourselves through this creative activity. Many artists place a strong emphasis on drawing, putting in a great deal of effort to enhance their designs and strive to come up with something that sets them apart from the vast number of colleagues.
By saying that tattooing is a craft for me, I mean a symbiosis of everything mentioned above.
Nós percebemos seus tatuagens há algum tempo, e agora estamos felizes de poder ter uma conversa pessoal sobre elas. Conte-nos sobre suas tatuagens. Por que você decidiu trabalhar com tatuagem preta? Quais características únicas você destaca em seu trabalho?
- Eu também estou feliz em ter essa oportunidade!
Cada vez que alguém me pergunta por que escolhi tatuagem preta, lembro de uma citação do "Harry Potter": "O varão escolhe o feiticeiro." E honestamente, foi o mesmo em meu caso. Ao longo da minha vida consciente, simplesmente não tive paixão por usar cores.
Como adolescente, como qualquer outra pessoa, eu fui à escola de arte, onde, por quatro anos, nos forçaram a desenhar pinturas de paisagens com acrílico. Por esses quatro anos, eu fiz apenas 10 trabalhos com lápis. Pode imaginar quantos poucos isso é? Como resultado, ao final da escola de arte, eu estava desapontado e não desenhei nada até 2015. Foi a tatuagem preta que me ajudou a rediscover minha paixão por desenhar, e graças a isso, tenho a vontade de criar arte.
Quanto às características distintivas... acho que há duas.
O primeiro é as teias de aranha. Elas apareceram pela primeira vez em meu trabalho em 2018, e desde então, já nos tornamos inseparáveis.
O segundo elemento é o ambiente em meus trabalhos artísticos. Você já visitou a Karelia? É incrivelmente bela lá: penedos, musgo, líquens, lagos azuis, florestas coníferas e áreas desmatadas. E quando você viaja para um local remoto no mapa, passa por uma pequena vila quase abandonada ao longo do caminho: tudo está crescendo, as casas estão inclinadas, e você pode literalmente ver como a vida deixou esse lugar. Mas um pouco mais adiante, entre as casas, podem ser vistos alguns personagens—os últimos moradores locais. Quando você finalmente chega ao seu destino, sai do carro e a escuridão da floresta envolve você. Você consegue imaginar tudo isso?
Então, para chegar ao ponto: não sei exatamente por que, mas consigo criar facilmente um ambiente desse bosque em meus trabalhos sem transformá-los em estilizações completamente sombrias e angulares. O bosque veio para mim a algum momento e ficou comigo. Estou simplesmente tentando explorar mais fundo no mato (risca).
Você mistura folclore, um pouco de horror e botânica. Na nossa opinião, seus trabalhos parecem ilustrações de contos de fada adultos. Por que esse tema lhe atrai? E onde você obtém a inspiração para seus trabalhos?
- Wow, isso provavelmente é um dos elogios mais fortes sobre meu trabalho que já ouvi. Obrigado!
Perhaps I'll say something very banal, but still: each of us is a kind of collection of the strongest experiences that have happened to us in life and personal preferences—things we like, what interests us, what makes our hearts beat faster. This is an important preface because what follows is a somewhat chaotic collection of aspects.
First and foremost, I'm from Siberia. All those coniferous trees, clearcuts, swamps, the feeling of emptiness in the frost and blizzards, decaying wooden houses once of unseen beauty, warnings about foxes and wolves when you go into the forest... All of this creates a certain atmosphere and perception of nature within you. Honestly, I don't know how to describe it more precisely because it's something related to perception and sensations.
The second factor chronologically is that I liked the world of "Korol' i Shut" (Iconic Russian punk rock band of the 00s). Oh, how life changes - back in my youth, admitting to liking it could get you in trouble (laughs). This world was self-sufficient and yet full of life - the characters found themselves in different stories, experienced tragedies, objects came to life, evil spirits were nearby plotting and occasionally claiming someone's life.
The third factor is "The Witcher" by Andrzej Sapkowski. I think there's no need to explain anything here, as everyone knows what the world from the book series, games, and TV show represents
And these three factors are the answer to your question - it's because of them that this theme attracts me.
But as for inspiration, I don't know how to answer. I simply don't quite believe in it [inspiration] in the sense that it's often understood as some kind of impulse, and voila! - you rush to draw. For me, it works a bit differently. If we're talking about personal projects, they marinate in my head for a while, and then I just sit down and bring them to life (sometimes with significant changes). When it comes to tattoos, a very large percentage of my work is the realization of my clients' ideas. And in that case, it's simpler.
A person says, "I want a fox with empty eyes and blueberry fruits. I like botany, but fully rounded leaves are not for me — I want them to be a bit angular. I also like bog rosemary and your spiderwebs are cool, definitely add them." And that becomes the starting point for me to draw, where I take into account their main wishes and incorporate them while adding something of my own. And for that, I don't need inspiration; I just need to have skills in drawing and basic analytical skills to calculate how the sketch should look to please the person.
We also noticed that each tattoo in your portfolio has its own story. Tell us about your favorite tattoo in your career.
- Oh, that's a tricky question! It's impossible to single out a favorite tattoo. It's like asking a person which of their children they love more. Here's a suggestion: I'll show you three tattoos of different scales and explain why I highlighted them.
First is the sleeve with skulls. Unfortunately, the girl never made it to the final session to complete the back of the shoulder, so I'll show you limited angles. I like this project because it's very contrasting, entirely composed of skulls (a cliché subject, but one I passionately love), and it was important to me from a practical standpoint. In my works, I often get carried away with small details, but the sleeve challenged me because all the objects were quite large, so despite my desire, I didn't have the opportunity to spend time on veins, soft gradients, and other delights. This project became a starting point for me to reconsider my approach to the size of objects used in tattoos.
Second is the fox. I love this work because of its placement, the story it tells, the dynamic it captures, the contrast, and I'm very pleased with how I managed to fit the composition in the upper part of the thigh. Among the recent large projects, it's my favorite.
Terceiro é a flor. Em termos de singularidade do tema, posição e outros aspectos, não é particularmente especial. Seu valor está no fato de que fizemos isso para minha mãe. Na época, ela tinha 60 anos e nunca tinha colorido seus cabelos em cores vibrantes, nunca usara maquiagem expressiva e suas orelhas nem mesmo estavam perfuradas. Considerando que ela não estava familiarizada com mudanças radicais em sua aparência, perguntei a ela 20 vezes se estava absolutamente certa sobre sua decisão. Faz quase um ano que nossa sessão terminou, e nos últimos 7 meses, minha mãe tem me pedido repetidamente que faça mais dois tatuagens para ela quando nos encontrarmos (vivemos em cidades diferentes, então encontrar-se é um evento muito importante neste contexto).
Na carreira de cada artista de tatuagem, há projetos ou colaborações inusitados. Você teve algum evento semelhante na sua carreira?
- Tenho, talvez, apenas uma história adequada. No verão de 2020, participei como artista de tatuagem convidado do projeto chamado "O que você estava usando?".
A few words about the project, to provide context and understanding. Originally, the exhibition had its roots in America. The project was created to tell the stories of girls who have experienced sexual assault and to show what they were wearing at the time. This is because in society (regardless of the country), there is a persistent belief that, let's say, modestly dressed girls don't provoke anyone, while ladies wearing short shorts (for example) are somehow at fault. Spoiler: that's not true. Therefore, the exhibition also included lectures where slut-shaming, victim-blaming, consent culture, and personal boundaries were discussed.
I had the opportunity to participate in the project as an invited tattoo artist. The organizers asked girls to send in their stories, and one was chosen in the end. We corresponded with her in advance [I won't mention her name for ethical reasons, as I'm not sure if she would want publicity], discussed the tattoo idea and its placement. I examined her scars and came up with a design that could effectively hide them. I drew a sketch by the event date, and then we implemented it at the project venue.
Para mim, foi minha primeira participação em um evento assim, então naturalmente fiquei um pouco nervoso. No entanto, tudo saiu bem e a garota ficou satisfeita com o resultado. Ela até escreveu um grande post de gratidão na sua página do VK depois disso - no final, valia a pena participar só por isso. Fazer alguém mais feliz com apenas um tatoo - não é isso incrível?
Você acredita que tatuar ajuda as pessoas a curar feridas emocionais?
- Eu acho que os tatuar têm uma função ainda mais ampla. Para algumas pessoas, um tatoo ajuda a aceitar a si mesmas (pois desempenha o papel de um pedaço do quebrado que finalmente foi encontrado). Outras usam tatuar para realizar sonhos que tinham guardados por muito tempo. Eu ouvi ocasionalmente histórias de mulheres que foram proibidas de se tatuar pelo marido, parceiro ou parentes próximos sob ameaça de extorsão. Eu sei que pode ser difícil acreditar no início, mas essas histórias realmente existem. Algumas pessoas vêm para cobrir cicatrizes. Eu tive que fazer coberturas, e em grande parte elas estavam relacionadas a autolesões, com variações nas localizações e escalas dos ferimentos. Eu acredito que é crucial ajudar as pessoas a passar por esses períodos da vida cobrindo-as com tatuar, pois cicatrizes desaparecem no fundo, e para muitas, um tatoo simboliza o início de algo novo e positivo.
So, yes, I do think that tattoos truly help many people navigate through difficult periods in their lives. However, it's also important to understand that a tattoo is not a panacea for all internal conflicts and problems. It doesn't always solve everything with a "get a tattoo and close that chapter of my life" approach. Sometimes, instead of getting a tattoo, it's better to seek psychological help and support. It's important to listen to oneself and prioritize correctly.
Do you travel a lot? In which country do you feel most comfortable, and why?
- I started traveling a lot since the beginning of last year, as did many of my compatriots.
To be honest, I haven't visited even 15 countries, but based on my experiences, I can say that Germany is the country where I feel most comfortable. Since the question is about comfort, I'll answer from a practical point of view. The appearance of a city is extremely important to me because I'm the kind of person who moved to St. Petersburg just to live and stroll around the city center without venturing beyond the Obvodny Canal (excluding trips to the nature of the Leningrad Region).
Alguns dos cidades alemães que eu visitei parecem quase perfeitos: uma mistura de arquitetura de um século com infraestrutura moderna e ciclovias, casas limpas, parques, espaços públicos e lixeiras de separação de resíduos em cada edifício! Para comparação, em São Petersburgo, eu já estava separando meus resíduos há cerca de cinco anos, desde 2016, e senti que era como uma missão sem recompensa no final, exceto por cansaço e meia dia gasto com isso (e a satisfação de ser responsável, como um bônus). Outra coisa que me encantou foi a qualidade dos produtos nas lojas e a ampla seleção de alimentos para veganos e vegetarianos, o que elimina a necessidade de me deslocar pela cidade em busca de salsichas vegetais. Em geral, à medida que você envelhece, começa a encontrar conforto nas coisas mais básicas.
Quais são seus objetivos de carreira?
- Vou responder essa pergunta em dois pontos, pois há objetivos que eu me estabeleci como artista de tatuagem (objetivos práticos) e objetivos direcionados às pessoas que vêm a mim.
Objetivos práticos. Eu realmente quero me tornar mais rápido no meu trabalho sem comprometer a qualidade. Regularmente, eu peço a pessoas que me enviem fotos dos projetos que já curamos, e cada vez que isso acontece, eu encontro detalhes pequenos que só eu notaria e que eu me critico por eles. Portanto, além do desejo de crescimento profissional, eu quero aprender a criticar-me menos e passar mais tempo desenhando para mim mesmo. Um dos principais objetivos nos próximos tempos é encontrar um estúdio para trabalhar permanentemente.
O segundo ponto é tanto mais simples quanto mais desafiador: minha tarefa é continuar criando tatuagens que os clientes amem e que trazam alegria para eles. Isso é um dos poucos aspectos em que vejo minha utilidade no mundo.
Posso te perguntar sobre seus planos para o futuro próximo? Onde podemos te ver? Você está preparando novos projetos?
- Meu principal plano é trabalhar e estabilizar minha vida. Essa é a área em que estou focando atualmente. Eu não posso fornecer mais detalhes específicos no momento, porque prefiro compartilhar conquistas realizadas em vez de explicar como vou alcançá-las.
Vou estar em São Petersburgo em julho e agosto, e depois, quem sabe? (sorriso)
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