Meet Khaliq Liq” | Tattoo Artist”

We had the good fortune of connecting with Khaliq “Liq” and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Khaliq, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
One reason that I pursue an artistic career is because I really enjoy creating. Ever since I was younger I would always like making things, real tangible things. Whether I was trying to fix small things around the house, or drawing something that went up on the fridge, or disassembling and reassembling whatever I could get my hands on; I just always enjoyed the impact of manipulating the physical world around me. For a long time, I believed I would work in finance, or another job in a corporate setting, sitting behind a desk. And not that there is anything wrong with that, but for me, passing information along through a computer just didn’t give me the feeling that creating something out of nothing or putting different parts together to create a new whole gives me.
That is also what I’ve always loved about tattoos. In a world where so much of what we engage in is temporary, tattoos last as long as we are around. When I first started tattooing I was just tattooing myself and my friends/family for fun as a hobby, never thinking I would actually start to do tattoos as a profession. But it was always really special to me that no matter how long we were here or where we ended up in the world, we would always have that memory etched in skin.
There is just something about the act of creating that I deeply enjoy.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My journey to where I am today professionally is winding and alot of times didnt seem to make any sense. I set off for college at Yale thinking that I was going to be a wall street/finance guy, then I realized that that wasnt for me. I played some small time professional basketball overseas, and as that was starting to try and take off I ended up falling into tattooing. I really never would have guessed that I would be tattooing as a hobby (which i started doing in college) and definitely never imagined it would be a career path for me. I just always liked tattoos since I was a baby. I have oictures of me at like 4 years old, arms covered with those fake stick on tattoos that I would take hours putting on myself. The main theme throughout this journey was that I always did things my way, and did the things that I wanted. And none of that ever had to make sense to anyone but me. From growing up in Inglewood, to going to Yale and pursuing a career in finance, then playing pro ball in Finland and Mexico and nearly Australia, then finally tattooing where I get to work with my friends all day and draw permanently on people’s skin for a living. I feel like for a story that seems a bit all over the place, ive been very calm. Ive always known that whatever path I decide to take I can figure things out, good or bad. I just check in with myself, and as long as what Im doing is in tune with the way that I want to live, I feel like I can only continue to progress in life.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to dedicate this shoutout to all the friends and family who got tattoos from me when I was tattooing them on my moms dining room table (or my dorm room bed, or a chair in the living room, or whatever other random place we could find) and had no clue what I was doing. And then also to my big brothers Nene and Noah, who took me from that to tattooing the way that I do today.

Website: www.LiqFromTheWood.com

Instagram: @LiqFromtheWood

Image Credits
Danielle Determan,