Meet Emma Flores of Memory Inscriptions Tattoo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Flores.

Hi Emma, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Im from a family of artists in the Bay Area— my mom is a photographer and my dad is a painter. I grew up in a community of friends as chosen family, an eclectic ecosystem of educators, musicians and social workers.

I appreciate everyone as creative and love group projects. Tattooing felt like a natural path for me — it’s inherently collaborative. Eight years co-creating and I’m still humbled people trust me to permanently adorn them. More than decorative aesthetic, tattoos are a form of body medicine— a transmutation of grief, a homecoming, a remembering, a celebration, an honoring, a protective force, a connector. My intention is to empower, expanding outer confidence, in service to inner radiance 🙂

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I feel very moved by Nina Simone’s famous quote “How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?”

Tattooing may seem surface but it poetically enlivens a lot that lives below the skin. Many of us joke we gig as part time therapists and thats not too far from the truth. Community care is central to the indigenous roots of tattooing and becoming tattooed requires one to be deliberate and intentional. In a society that favors fast over slow, profit over people, comfort over discomfort, numbing over nurturing… it’s no surprise that when the body is still, stored grief emerges. It’s important we as practitioners know how to witness and hold that with care.

In 2020, BIPOC tattooers and clients called in the tattoo community to address why so few studios feature tattoos on dark skin and how racism, fatphobia, misogyny, ableism, classism, transphobia, xenophobia etc. persist in shop cultures and hiring. I took a long hard look at myself, the parts of me that aspire to “all bodies welcome” and “safe space” declarations and the parts that acknowledge words also require actions. As someone navigating a complex bodily mix of colonized and colonizer bloodlines, I think a lot about my role in unraveling oppressive systems of harm. Last year, after 7 years of tattooing, when I used my platform to amplify the inherent rights and dignity of the Palestinian people, Meta deleted my instagram account. I’m not alone in being silenced or censured. However, to have the main engine of my small business, a loving archive, disappear overnight was illuminating and difficult. Thanks to mutual love and support Ive been able to rebuild.

None of us are monoliths. We come from communities that shape us and we play a role in shaping them back. I want to help birth a new paradigm, especially in tattoo world. Our conditioning doesn’t have to be our future and I’m committed to dismantling collective injustice, starting at my center and spiraling outward. Decolonizing myself and unlearning inherent biases is my lifelong practice.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I offer a tattoo experience different from the industry standard. I have a private studio in a healing arts collective, a calming sunroom in a craftsman home overlooking a vibrant lemon tree. The space feels like a deep breath for the  nervous system. My coworkers are acupuncturists, body workers, herbalists, reiki practitioners, and somatic therapists. Most of us are queer and divest from mainstream hustle and grind culture.

In collaboration with my coworker Corinna Loo, a respected LA acupuncturist, we designed a grief relief retreat combining our healing skills. Clients begin with a consultation addressing their current pain, then move into a guided meditation, followed by acupuncture and cupping centering blocked energy in the body. Midday they are served a lovingly prepared Ayurvedic meal and have time for therapeutic art making in our garden space. After they rest, we work together to co-create a custom tattoo that embodies their experience, through placement and visual symbolism. The shared goal is to restore balance to the mind body and spirit.

Often subconsciously, clients intuitively select zones that correspond with primary energy meridians. Meridians function like channels linking organs and their emotional holdings to our external environment. Its no wonder the word “disease” comes from “dis-ease.” In a world filled with so much collective grief globally and locally, especially after the LA fires, I think we need body healers and sensitive folks to help guide us back to our inner wisdom.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was a sensitive kid and for a long time I felt shame about that but now Im trying to embrace this side of myself as a personal liberatory practice. My sensitivity is deeply tied to my artistic gifts and Ive grown to appreciate my compassionate ability to notice. Im a pisces so aside from being an emo kid, kindness has always been big for me. It’s so simple, contagious, and truly the best part of being human.

Im really goofy and energetic when Im rested and not overworking. I love to laugh, eat delicious food and be in calming nature near water. Outside of tattooing, Im pretty wholesome— find me cooking an elaborate meal with friends, hosting queer figure drawing events, tending to my herb garden, playing with clay or trying to get my girlfriend to climb some big a*s hill with me (to which she often declines).

Pricing:

• FLASH: $200/HR
• CUSTOM: $250/HR

Detail · size · placement · your budget = price ♡

Contact Info:

• Website: https://memoryinscriptions.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/memoryinscriptions_/

 

 

Image Credits
The image of me tattooing my client with the orange book is by my client Veronica Velasquez of @thisptlife. The book “Could this be magic?Tattooing as Liberation Work” is the trauma informed anthology from which I derive much of my practice. It is a collection of thoughtful reflections via the beloved multi-disciplinary creative Tamara Santibañez, who was one of my first inspirations to become a tattooer.