Chris Garcia tattoos Greg Villaver, Slapshock's sound engineer, in Manila. Photo taken by Warren Espejo.
Chris Garcia is a renowned Filipino tattoo artist who can no longer get inked. Not because the Vegas-based artist has run out of bare skin to decorate, but because his heart condition makes it complicated for him to get more tattoos. Sure, technically, he can still paint himself with his signature realistic tats, or tattoos (think portraits and the like). However, the process can be "catastrophic" to his heart. The husband and father of one says, "To avoid the risks, I just stopped getting tattoos."
Still, he continues the craft he taught himself almost 16 years ago. He already had his first tattoo, "a skeleton figure ripping out of (his) skin," when he and his family moved to Virginia in the United States in 1993. In Virginia, he was his own guinea pig before moving on to his family and friends, who were "very happy" to let him work his magic on them for free. The Yorktown shop Ancient Art later hired him at once, when he presented his portfolio to them. In 2005, he joined the Ink Gallery in Virginia Beach. After a few years, he moved to the swanky Club Tattoo in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, Las Vegas.
He says he has always been artistic, but he definitely has a knack for the sciences as well. An Engineering graduate, he spent about five years working on his doctorate through a grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. However, International Tattoo Art wrote that as Garcia "approached the end of his degree program, he found that he values what tattoos offer him artistically and financially, more than (what engineering does)." When he was offered a permanent position at Club Tattoo, he "quickly accepted it," according to the magazine.
Now doing well in Vegas, he has even inked some celebrity clients like tween queen Miley Cyrus and her dad Billy Ray, her mom Tish and her brother Trace of the band Metro Station. He has also marked Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Brandon Vera and all the members of Boys Like Girls. Locally, he has worked on Slapshock, including his brother and band vocalist Jamir, Raimund Marasigan, Karl Roy and Don Allado.
Garcia went back to his homeland a little over a week ago and SPOT.ph got to chat with him exclusively. Read on as he talks about 17-year-old Miley Cyrus' controversial tattoos, an elderly client's eyebrow-raising tat on a racy body part, and more.
Chris Garcia with Miley Cyrus. The Disney star was only 17 when she got this tattoo but her mom Tish signed a consent form, according to Garcia. Click for more photos, all courtesy of Garcia.
Tell us about your tattoos.
I got my first tattoo in the Philippines in 1992. The first tattoo that I did was on myself in 1994. I have one on each arm and a few small ones on my leg. I have very few tattoos compared to most tattoo artists (because of my heart condition). I have an artificial valve I had a heart surgery about 10 years ago because my valve wasn't functioning properly. It was something I had since I was really young. Because of (the surgery), anything I do, I have to be pre-medicated. Every time I go to the dentist, I have to get a prescription for antibiotics. I just have a high risk for infection and it can be catastrophic to my heart. To avoid the risks, I just stopped getting tattoos.
Which one is your favorite tattoo?
My mother's name, Teresita, right here (points to his arm). My brothers and I have tribute tattoos for our mom who passed away when we were young. Jamir (vocalist of Slapshock) has a tribute tattoo similar to mine. Two of my brothers have a portrait of our mom. I did all their tattoos.
If you could have other artists do tattoos on you, whom would you pick?
There are a lot of good artists especially in the States but to name a couple, there's Mike DeVries and Nikko Hurtado. They both do colored portraits. Here in the Philippines, one of the best artists, for me, is Raquel Natividad from Laguna.
