Kiera creates beautifully soft and cute cat tattoos, so adorable in fact they look like you could reach out and boop their little noses. We chatted to Kiera to find out more about that tattoos she creates and her travel plans…
Currently working in Melbourne Australia, Kiera will be travelling the world from June heading first to Shanghai, Okinawa, Korea and London. Where she is hoping to travel around Europe for a while after London, and then hopefully find a place to settle down for a bit after that.
You mainly tattoo cats (which we love), what do you love about these animals? Cats look really cute! I love the back of their heads, the triangle shape of their ears and cat’s mouths looks really clear and adorable. I like the cats’ tsundere/arrogant kind of temperament that makes me crave their attention.
How did your cat tattoo style/craze start? Why do you think they are so popular? I wasn’t supposed to draw just cats but I thought, “I would draw a cat today and tomorrow another animal.” But the next day came and I kept drawing cats every day. I feel very happy and satisfied when drawing cats and making them cute, it’s fun for me.
I put lots of love in my drawings and tattoos so I think people can feel that.
Do you have any cat tattoos yourself? I don’t have any cat tattoos, actually I don’t have any cats at all as I am allergic to them!
What inspires your tattoos? Most of my customers are big fans of Asian culture so I realised my tattoos have an Asian/oriental atmosphere. Also I’m inspired by my favorite illustrators which tend to be Asian themed too. I like anime, fashion and a lot of cat Instagram accounts!
Do you have a background in art, does this influence your work? I started to draw when I was very young and my major from university was product design. I was also an art teacher for a number of years and industrial designer. I feel like this has given me a nice foundation in wide variety of art mediums which has helped me a lot in tattooing.
How does it feel being a woman in the tattoo industry? I have never thought about it. I just live in my own tattooing world.
How would you describe your style? I’m not sure exactly which category my style of tattooing would fall into. I would describe my style as just cute cat tattoos.
How did you begin your tattooing career? What made you want to become a tattooist? It was a very spontaneous decision for me to become a tattooist. I really enjoy drawing and tattooing seemed like a very creative career which allows a lot of freedom.
I started tattooing in Melbourne by tattooing friends, and then moved to Korea to learn more. I was lucky enough to have people interested in what I wanted to tattoo, so I could really concentrate on my own style of tattooing.