TATTOO TALK W/ ARTIST VALERIIA VOLOKHOVA AKA OOQZA INTERVIEW BY KRYSTI JOMÉI | PHOTOS COURTESY OF OOQZA APRIL, 1 2025 Valeriia Volokhova aka Ooqza is an artist on a mission to literally leave her mark around the world. Her instantly recognizable art speaks for itself — raw, honest, a spectrum of emotion — with each tattoo being a symbiosis of her own personal journey and that of her client. From drawing in her youth in a tiny town in Moscow to becoming a world renowned tattoo artist currently touring the U.S., Valeriia is where she is today due to her grit and years of hard work. But even more, she’s here by virtue of an unwavering authenticity to herself. I was able to catch up with Valeriia during her time in Los Angeles before she visits Denver for the first time in April. GROWING UP THREE HOURS SOUTH OF MOSCOW IN RUSSIA, THERE WERE NO ARTISTS IN YOUR FAMILY, WHO WERE MOSTLY SOCIAL WORKERS. YET, HERE YOU ARE AN ILLUSTRATOR TURNED ACCLAIMED TATTOO ARTIST. WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE TO YOUR INNATE CREATIVITY? AND WHEN DID YOU REALIZE YOU WERE AN ARTIST? My mom always nurtured my creative spirit. I’ve been drawing since I was a kid — mostly designing clothes for women because that fascinated me. She once told me that when she was little, she never felt supported in her creativity by her own mother, so she wanted to change that in our relationship. Honestly, I don’t believe creativity is something you're just born with. I think anyone can develop it in one way or another. The results will be different for everyone, but it all depends on how much effort you put in. No. 136 YOUR CAREER BEGAN IN COLLEGE AT A PARTY WHEN SOMEONE NOTICED YOUR ILLUSTRATIONS AND ASKED FOR A TATTOO, TO WHICH YOU AGREED TO AFTER BUYING A PRIMITIVE MACHINE SET. AT THE TIME, THERE WEREN'T ANY TATTOO ARTISTS IN YOUR AREA WHO YOU FELT YOU COULD LEARN FROM, SO HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT TEACHING YOURSELF? When I was starting out, of course, there were tattoo artists around, but even with my zero experience back then, I knew they couldn’t give me what I wanted. I was aiming for something beyond what they had achieved — something more aesthetic, more refined and better quality. So I had to teach myself, gathering bits of information from the internet. Thirteen years ago, there were no tutorials on how to use tattoo machines, how deep the needle should go, or any real instructions. Everything I learned was through trial and error. The only thing I could find were some random videos from foreign tattoo artists on YouTube. I’d pause, rewind, and analyze every second where I could see their hands, how they held the machine — trying to understand anything at all. You can imagine how long that process took. SEARCHING FOR YOUR STYLE INITIALLY, A FRIEND ASKED YOU WHY YOU DIDN’T DRAW ANIME WHICH HAS BEEN AN INTEGRAL PART OF YOUR LIFE SINCE 13. YOU "RECEIVED YOUR SIGHT" JUST THEN, WITH JAPANESE INFLUENCED ART SERVING AS A STYLISTIC CORNERSTONE. DESCRIBE YOUR FIRST MEMORY OF ANIME. FAST FORWARD, WHAT CURRENTLY SERVES AS YOUR CREATIVE MUSE? It’s hard to say what my first anime was — probably Pokémon or Sailor Moon — but the first one I truly fell in love with was Shaman King. For years
27 Publizr Home