Meet Chaim Machlev | Tattoo Artist & Designer

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

Hi Chaim, what matters most to you?
I take tattooing very seriously. For me, since the result of the process can never be 100% perfect as the medium is on live and breathing skin and is a handmade craft, I feel like I need to do everything I can that my starting point will be as close as possible to perfection. I tattoo one client a day, I do not tattoo everyday and I don’t have other tattoo artists working around me in my studio, nor other clients.

I feel like individuals who come to get tattooed are anyway a bit nervous about the process and have so much to deal with when they choose the design and during the tattooing process, that the last thing they need to deal with is other customers around or other tattoo artists working in the same room.

I find a one to one approach is my best means of performing this ceremony of tattooing, the most rewarding for the client and myself. We have no stress of time and for the fact that I want the client to look back in ten years and feel proud of the decisions they made for themselves.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I got my first tattoo when I was 30 year old. I was living back in Israel back then. I was a computer technician and had no connection to art back then. It wasn’t until I got tattooed, that I realised what was missing from my life was creation. I could not stop thinking of tattooing, and decided to sell everything I have and move to Berlin, Germany to fulfil my dream to become a tattoo artist against all odds.

When I arrived to Germany I realised how hard it is to become a tattoo artist, especially for one who has no artistic background. I finished all of my money and had to live from a few euros a week but I never gave up on the dream until I found a studio who was willing to teach me out of 100 that I had asked.

A few months later, I realised that my approach is a bit different, I can’t draw but I can observe the human body structure and natural energy flow and could emphasise it with minimalistic lines to make it look timeless and very individual as an art form on the body. I opened my own small studio, lived in the back room and started tattooing every waking hour, in order to explore the new sensations I felt for this journey and continued to teach myself how to do it.

12 years later after developing my own style and ethical codes of tattooing, I have moved to LA and look forward to welcome people to experience tattooing in the most significant and individual way in a one on one session.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Since I moved to LA last year, I try to explore the beauty that nature has to offer here. I love to explore different hikes and walks. the city here is amazing and vibrant, but what is most mesmerising is the amount of diversity of nature that we have here. You can drive within one hour and be in a totally different setting. I love the areas of Griffith park, the beautiful coffee spots in old Topanga. Walking on the beach in Santa Monica, Enjoying art Galleries in west Hollywood and exploring the various vegan restaurants that LA has to offer.

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 get inspired a lot by nature as a means of geometrical forms and art. Everything is balanced in an organic but chaotic order, that the beauty can bring me to tears.

Im very connected to my family, I have a new baby girl, which inspires me to work hard. I find music as an endless source of inspiration and self identification.

There are so many artists that I find inspiring and brave with the journey they take and creations they make, In any case, I think that so much inspiration lies all around us, we just need to see it.

Website: www.dotstolines.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dotstolines

Facebook: www.dotstolines.com/dotstolines

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQuXwIkHEATXgJQOhNGyhlQ/feed

Image Credits
Chaim Machlev, DotsToLines