Victoria Hois
Victoria is a young artist coming to visit Pale Horse this summer from Sarnia, Ontario! As always, we do our best to have a little chat with our guests so that our lovely clients can get to know them a little better!
Hey Victoria, can you start off by telling us a little about yourself and your
career?
Although this wasn't my original career path, it is very fitting. Being raised by creative parents, I have always been drawn to art and the idea of creation. After my first year of post-secondary, I planned on becoming a chef as that was where my past work experience led me. I was enrolled in the culinary management program at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario when I discovered a newfound interest in the art of tattooing. During the pandemic, I received a tattoo machine as a birthday gift and began practicing on myself, my family, and close friends. Though it wasn't the traditional way of starting out in the industry, I did my best to learn through online seminars, courses, and good old trial and error. For the following year, I continued to work at a local restaurant and kept tattooing on the side as more of a hobby than a career. The idea of tattooing full-time started becoming less of a fantasy and more of a goal for me as time passed. In October 2021, The Hive Tattoo Co. - a new up-and-coming tattoo shop in Sarnia - posted on Instagram searching for an apprentice. I knew the owner as I had been tattooed by him in the past, and that familiarity made me jump at the opportunity to dip my toes into the tattoo industry in a more professional capacity. Almost four years later, I am a resident artist at the same shop with a widespread clientele that I am forever grateful for.
Guest appearances at tattoo studios seems to be something that has dropped in popularity in recent years, as someone venturing into it for the first time, why do you think we see fewer guest artists lately?
Guest appearances are something I always found to be very intriguing. To be able to travel and work is an ideal for many, and this industry allows for that on an international level. For my first guest spot, I wanted to remain in the country and get a feel for the work-travel dynamic without straying too far from home. I've never been to Nova Scotia and saw this as a great opportunity to adventure the East Coast of Canada with the final destination being Pale Horse. My main concern in this endeavor was my ability to secure clients in a place I had never set foot in. I feel as though this may be a shared concern for artists looking to make guest appearances because there is a lot of uncertainty. Having the comfort of an established clientele is something a lot of people may not want to give up in order to travel and spread their art. However, Mike has made this an effortless first guest spot experience in terms of marketing and booking. I would definitely recommend this shop to anyone who seeks a guest spot but is weary of the process.
For most jobs, people typically don't travel for work and when they do, it's organized by the employer. As tattoo artists, we generally have to sort everything out ourselves. How have you been preparing for your upcoming travels?
Planning trips is something I've always really enjoyed. In the past few years I've traveled to a variety of destinations on personal trips and have planned them all using booking apps like Expedia. The toughest part for me is deciding how to allocate time to different sights and experiences while not over-doing it or missing out. For this trip in particular, I plan on making the drive out to Sydney from Ontario. This past week has been all about scoping out different routes and points-of-interest on the way. There are so many beautiful sights to see on the East Coast, I am so excited! I hope to see as much as possible in the week leading up to my arrival at Pale Horse, and before heading back to Ontario.
I always ask about what role technology plays in an artist's life since it seems to vary so much. When I first started tattooing it was printed photos from Walmart in an album on the lobby table. How do you feel about the current role social media has in a tattoo artist's career?
As a new artist in the industry, I was not a part of the shift from the old-school practices to the technological advances of the iPad. I have been using technology to design tattoos since Day 1, but still love to create art outside of work with other mediums like graphite and paints. When it comes to social media, I am very familiar with platforms like Instagram and Facebook, as I grew up using them. Like many other tattoo artists, my main portfolio is showcased on my Instagram feed. This allows existing and potential clients to see my work and follow along my journey while encouraging communication through comments and DMs. I also have a classic portfolio sitting on the shop's coffee table with printed images of my favourite pieces I've created so anyone can walk in and browse without needing access to the internet. The one issue I have with social media is accessibility. There are many instances where potential clients don't use Instagram or Facebook and are unable to remotely view portfolios, specifically in older generations. I feel as though this causes a disconnect in the industry for artists who strictly book through social media. To avoid this, I do the majority of my booking through email which I find is the most accessible form of communication for every age group.
With a style that is so popular right now, and social media playing such a big role in the industry, how do you manage to balance your own creative and artistic visions when creating a piece for a client who is bringing something from Pinterest or other social media?
I can't lie, I love Pinterest! There are so many ideas, not only for tattoos but everything. I encourage clients to send me reference photos. I always say the more I see, the more I know what they're truly wanting. There is definitely an issue in the industry with artistic plagiarism, and I believe that these references should be used solely as inspiration and never copied line for line. Aside from Pinterest, I find inspiration in nature and often take photos of flowers, plants, and animals that I find in the wild. Using my own creative knowledge, references from the internet, as well as my personal roster of references, I can create a unique piece for every client.
While most of your Instagram shows fine-line illustrative designs, you do have a few tattoos peppered throughout in different styles. Are you working slowly towards shifting styles or is this an example of adapting to the needs of clients?
When I started tattooing, I was interested in going the American traditional route because that's what I enjoyed drawing. My mentor was mainly doing fine line and realism, and that encouraged me to explore different styles of tattooing. It was during that time that I discovered my love for fine line tattooing. The precision and accuracy needed to pull off a fine line tattoo with no shading is definitely a challenge, but it allows me to continuously hone the fundamental element of linework. I still take on a variety of different styles because I feel that it's still too early in my career to tie down to one style. The look of an artist having one cohesive page was always appealing to me, but that's just not my current vibe. In this era of my career, I am focusing on expanding my knowledge in all different styles that interest me and being as diverse as possible. I am unsure if I will ever narrow Vix Ink Tattoos down to just one style, but fine line is my favourite for sure.
Is there a particular style or technique that you would like to work more towards? If so, is this more of an active journey, seeking out projects that fit the shift or is it more passive?
Colour is something that is still very new to me, but I would love to dive deeper into it. I am not actively seeking out clients with colour ideas, but I do take on almost every colour tattoo that comes my way. I find the majority of people in my area prefer black and grey tattoos, so when the rare colour client comes along I am always excited to work with them. This puts me on the edge of my comfort zone so I can continue growing as an artist, while not taking on anything too intricate like extreme colour realism.
Talking to newer artists brings a lot of seldom-spoken-about insight into the tattoo industry and how professionals become professional. While apprenticeships are common and the accepted way, it isn't formally structured and we often have to figure out a lot of things for ourselves. Are there any parts of the job you wish had more formal direction?
Starting out tattooing at home led me to pick up some bad habits I was unaware of that took a while to shake off. Without the constant watch of a mentor, it was difficult to know what application was right or wrong. Even when I began my apprenticeship, things were quite loosely explained and there was no true set way of doing anything. This made for a very difficult first couple years of my career. With time and experience, I am finally in a spot where I am confident in my techniques but still learn something new every day to develop even further. The main area I wish had more formal direction in this industry would be in cross-contamination and infectious disease prevention. Tattooing is barely recognized in health and safety across Canada and has extremely loose regulations. Clients are more often than not unaware of this, which can be very dangerous. For the clients' sake, there should be much more prominent requirements regarding health regulations to avoid people like me from grabbing a tattoo machine off Amazon and beginning with no knowledge of health and safety.
What are your career goals both short and long term?
For the short-term, I want to continue to work with my established clientele and finish off the sleeves and larger pieces I have on the go. It is always extremely satisfying to finish off a piece that is months or even years in the making. I also would like to take more time to design and release more flash pieces for future clients. I love designing custom pieces, but the feeling of someone claiming flash because they are attracted only to the art is very special to me. For the long-term, I hope to seek out more guest spot opportunities and continue to travel for work overseas.
Lastly, as I always ask, if you could go back in time and give yourself a single piece of advice when you started tattooing, what would it be?
One piece of advice I would give myself is, practice makes progress. With the oversaturation of tattoos on social media it is easy to become consumed by comparison. At the beginning I often found myself comparing my work to that of others who had decades of experience. This can lead to major imposter syndrome which I know is a familiar feeling for many artists. Still being so fresh this is something I constantly remind myself of: the more I practice, the more I progress, without having a be-all and end-all of my path.
Thank you Victoria for taking the time to chat and answer some questions so that we could get to know you and your career just a little bit more!
Victoria will be with us at Pale Horse this June from the 7th to the 8th. Victoria is currently fully booked up at the time of this interview but we will leave a link so you can check out her work and let her know you’d like to be tattooed in the future!