Meet Alexis McFate | Tattoo artist & visual artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alexis McFate and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexis, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I have been happy with non-artistic jobs, but I was always dreaming of making art my career. I grew up losing myself in the world created by the artwork in my books about faeries. My favorite faeries were the ones with darker imagery. I fell in love with the combination of dark and often grotesque in perfect balance with traditional beauty. Many creatures were both and nature is both, we are all both. I think this fascination as a child still plays a part in how I see things today and why I chose to pursue an artistic career. I feel that it is a way of life to see the beautiful in the dark and decay, and to also remember everything is not just as it seems. I definitely aspire to bring this into my artwork and my life, what better way to do this than to make art my livelihood.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As an artist, my work can be summed up into illustrative surrealism as an overarching label. The elements that I like to bring into my work often include botanicals and tree branches, the female figure or face, animals and inspiration from dreams. I always aim to create art out of emotion and intention and collect imagery and ideas that build upon each other to infuse the piece with meaning. The macabre in the form of skulls and bones, shadow or dark imagery that may evoke sadness or discomfort is something I draw on often.

The mediums I work with are human skin and ink as a tattoo artist. Off of the skin I use mechanical pencils, micron pens and gouache or acrylic paint. I am a very detail oriented person and love tiny pen tips, sharp graphite and fine line tattoo needles. The longer I tattoo, the more my drawing style becomes stronger in my tattoo work. This has been a dream that I was not quite sure would come to fruition, but is now finally taking form. The most exciting aspect of this is that other people are interested in my work when I put my heart into it. This has been a scary process at times as well. I am one of those people who have life conditioning to make myself small and not to shine at all costs. I also had a story about not being good enough to bother making art, a little story from a person who is no longer in my life. So, to get back up and begin to draw and then to take the leap into tattooing has been a tug of war between these old and untrue stories, and what is in my own heart. Luckily I can be pretty insubordinate and never really let the people in my past convince me that I was not worthy of my dreams.

This journey is really starting to look like what I have always hoped for. I have a ways to go still, but I feel like I am finally at a vantage point where I can see the way and just have to keep going. I am one of the many who realized that the type of art I wanted to dedicate myself to as a career is tattooing. I am older than a lot of artists getting their start, for me there was no Ink Master and tattoos were not nearly as common place when I was coming of age. It was 1995 when I was a freshman in high school that I really knew I wanted to do this and started trying to find out how to get there. I spent hours at bookstores looking at tattoo magazines, trying to absorb everything I could. When I turned 18 I started going into tattoo shops just to see what they were like, especially the one in my hometown that had won awards. I frequented enough to be offered the position of “shop help” which I hoped would become an apprenticeship. Perhaps it would have if I didn’t suffer from significant anxiety at the time. This was before I did any therapy and had no clue what was going on, so when I started to feel anxiety growing into panic I didn’t know how to talk about it. Years later I saw that it was my conditioning to stay small and also a very strong fear of success coming out as ungrounded fear. Unfortunately, I walked away from that tattoo shop and regretted it deeply every day, I believed a part of me died and I didn’t know what direction to go in if I couldn’t tattoo. I spent the next few years drifting in retail and community college. I got married, had a child and then got divorced by the time I was 24. At some point I decided that I was going to be a hairstylist to support my family, and was happy doing that for 14 years. I retired my shears in 2021 when I moved to LA. I had been living in Portland, Oregon since 2008. In the state of Oregon you have to attend school to become a tattoo artist, which worked out in my favor. Once my son was old enough to stay home alone I was able to go to school part time and work part time starting in January 2019. It was this same year I started dating my now husband, who was the catalyst for our move to LA in 2021.

The lessons I have learned along the way are many. One of the most important is that you’re never too old to do what is in your heart. We have now, the past is gone and the future is waiting. Another is to encourage others to follow their heart. A moment that pushed me forward to jumping off the ledge was a friend doing just this. We were walking her dog and she asked if I had ever considered tattooing because I love is so much. I told her my story and declared that I was too old now. She told me that was ridiculous and that I was not allowed to use that as an excuse. I’m really grateful for that day. Lastly, no one is going to hand you the dream that is in your own heart. No one else can truly know this dream the way that you do and it is up to you to make it happen. Patience, integrity, persistence, determination and grit are going to get you there.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There’s a lot in LA that I haven’t done as I haven’t lived here very long, so I would want to explore right along with them. I would definitely take them to work with me, I work at Supersweet Tattoos and Coffee in Echo Park, and it is so unique and adorable, I would definitely want to show them that. I love food and I’m vegan, so we would have to eat a lot. Definitely Ubatuba, Monty’s, Purgatory Pizza, Donut Friend and Kreamo, Nic’s on Beverly and Crossroads. We would definitely go to Hollywood Forever cemetery, the Museum of Death when it reopens, the Medieval Torture Museum and some art museums. Probably see a concert, try to catch an oddities exhibition, check out some shops like Dark Delicacies, The Bearded Lady and the Mystic Museum. Universal Studios is fun. I also really want to explore some hiking trails.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to the people in my life that have held me up. My husband for truly seeing me and always encouraging me to follow my dreams and to never make myself small again. To my mother for sparking the fire that inspired me to draw as a tiny child and for always being my biggest fan. To my son whose presence has held me accountable to heal, grow and set an example through doing. To my brother for believing in me and having my back. Also, to the friends who lifted me up and rooted for me when I doubted myself, I hope you know who you are.

Website: www.fatearts.com

Instagram: @fate.nevermore