Today we’d like to introduce you to Kirk Nilsen
Hi Kirk, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve always been drawn to art, history, and architecture.
As young as 4, I was making small paintings to sell at pre-school for other kids’ lunch money. Living on the ground level of the main street of a small city, I would sometimes set our front porch as a museum and bother strangers to come visit. As a teenager, I was creating logos and tour posters for punk bands in both the U.S. and Europe; as back then I played multiple instruments in multiple bands – and made many connections through this.
My path to tattooing began in the early 2000s when I had the chance to apprentice under an older tattoo artist in Brick, NJ, who he himself had trained with a legendary tattooer in San Francisco back in the 60s/70s. I randomly drove past his shop on the way to the beach, brought in my portfolio, and was hired on the spot.
Starting out in a walk-in, biker-style street shop was a crash course in tattooing, where I built a large client base and learned to tattoo every single style, deal with piles of different personalities, and learned to tattoo efficiently and quickly – and back then if you did a bad tattoo, the client would physically fight you, and many were fresh out of prison. When all of the other artists moved on from the shop, I stayed, and being the only artist working, that’s when my following really began to grow.
I eventually opened my own shop in New Jersey, against the advice of local shops who threatened me, and it quickly became the premier custom studio in the region. I immediately turned it into a private, appointment-only studio so I could focus more on the art – and help push tattooing into the fine art industry – to help my art and the industry as a whole, become an accepted art medium, rather than to be viewed as a low brow craft. As I was now able to focus much more on my art, my career really started to expand.
One time, working at the Philadelphia Tattoo Convention, an old friend from Chicago who I met during my music days ran into me. We both decided to do a string of conventions together from Baltimore to Miami, doing conventions and guest spots across the U.S. and Europe. I was the only tattoo artist drawing any type of ornamental / geometric tattoos by hand, which set me apart in a world where most were using computers. It caught the attention of top-tier artists and led me to work at invite-only conventions in places like Milan, Italy where I met incredible international tattoo artists who invited me to guest spot at their studios the world over. For a time, I was working and living half the year in NJ, half in Los Angeles and some in Europe.
Eventually, sick of the cold and not too fond of the lifestyle in Los Angeles, I found my way to Charleston, SC. Charleston’s blend of history and old-world aesthetics, architecture, sailing capabilities, and weather / geography, felt like the perfect fit for me. It was a place where I could continue growing as an artist and connect with a vibrant community. It’s been quite the journey from childhood doodles to traveling the world, and I’m excited to see where it goes next.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I wish! I would say it has been a very American styled road – giant potholes, cracks, trash in the way, other drivers cutting me off and trying to run me off the road ha. Maybe I just lived in New Jersey too long.
I had everything from other tattooers trying to steal clients, offering them discounts to take the work from me, slandering my name, trying to physically fight me, health departments completely ignoring me when I tried opening my studio (leaving me with a business lease, 2 children, and no business for 10 months), making me spend nearly 40k on specific interior construction on my business that I never actually needed (he allowed other studios to open without any of these requirements), constantly having to figure out new social media, new algorithms on the social media, artists stealing my style or flat out tracing my tattoos, finding out that if you do not go on the internet 24/7, post social media content, do magazine interviews and conventions – then people think you quit tattooing and stop emailing you, hiring people who are terrible, not being able to find reliable help from even people as important and supposedly professional as insurance companies and financial companies, industry magazines or social media pages are being ran by competing artists – which means if you are not in with the right people – you must constantly self-promote or you will never be known, artists only befriending you to steal marketing ideas, art ideas, business ideas and clients – I could go on, the list is quite possibly endless.
There have been an endless number of roadblocks, and I am sure they will continue for life. Basically, every single thing you could possibly ever imagine could go wrong with being an artist or owning a business, happens about 25 times per day.
This list doesn’t even remotely scratch the surface; but it has all been worth it. I will continuously push through.
When things do go right, it is amazing; and the real friends I have met that aren’t around just to see what they can get from me have been an amazing help along the way. I am also grateful that as chaotic as things are, I do have probably the best clients in the industry. I love hearing artists complain about their clients. This is one thing that has always been quite smooth for me.
All in all, I always laugh when people speak of my life and say “must be nice”.
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, mixed media artist / painter, graphic designer and business owner.
In the past, I have been widely recognized for my work in the mandala / geometric / stippling (aka dot work) sphere of tattooing. Early on, I focused much on esoteric art rooted in sacred geometry and ancient mystical designs, as well as eastern religious art. Much of this was requested by clients as my previous work with filigree and Greco-Roman styled ornamental designs proved worthy of creating the line work and design work necessary for such art.
More recently, as my art has evolved and I was able to express my true interests and personality through my work with the creative freedom the best clients in the world have afforded me, I have become world renowned for my work in a more ornamental – medieval, gothic architectural realm of geometric art. My work is heavily influenced by medieval European architecture, ancient manuscripts, old folk art and patterns, old world font types, engraving / etching art and wood print / wood cut designs. I am also highly fond of Portuguese and Spanish tile work, as a large part of my dna is Iberian with family coming from the Azores in Portugal. I also enjoy adding some Scandinavian folk elements as well as this is another part of my ancestry which I find interesting.
What sets me apart from most others is I am one of the last remaining tattoo artists on the earth doing any type of geometric styled tattooing who can and does, draw my art by hand. Not computer generated or guided. Some is drawn directly onto the skin with markers and pens. Some is completely freehanded onto the skin with the tattoo machine – no pre sketching or stencils period.
As for what I am most proud of, I have no answer. As a creative, I am highly critical of everything I do. Whenever I complete any project, i am immediately thinking of ways to improve, never really happy or content with much.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
There have been a massive number of friends, family, co-workers and clients who have helped along the way and given advice. Too many to fully list as I know someone will get left out. Although the number one most helpful person ever, I had forgotten her name. A client who was the business consultant for Amazon, she had given me much guidance during her tattoo session that absolutely changed the course of my life. For her, I am eternally grateful. Another more recent friend, due to his wisdom that has recently made me think a lot about things has been fine artist Bernard Meisner, as well as a recent client Arnas in Lithuania for his advice on social media. Last but certainly not least, tattoo artist and amazing friend – Dave Hatton in Los Angeles – his wisdom has been vital throughout the years.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kirknilsen.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirknilsentattoos
- Facebook: If you find my facebook, it has been hacked lol
