Meet Lisa Bender

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Bender.

Hi Lisa, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My path to tattooing was anything but linear — and I think that’s exactly what shapes the way I work today.

After studying Business Administration and Banking for 2 years, I quickly realized that the corporate world left little room for the part of myself that mattered most: my creativity. I went on to study Fashion Design, a chapter I loved deeply, though the industry itself never felt like the right fit. I spent years working as a freelance stylist before a conversation with a friend changed everything. He saw what I had always taken for granted — a natural gift for drawing — and suggested I find a way to make my art my living.

Eight years ago, I taught myself to tattoo. I had been collecting tattoos since I was 18, so the world of ink had always been part of my life — yet the idea of becoming a tattoo artist had never crossed my mind. I found my footing independently, and after years of building my craft, I opened my own studio — Visions of Ecstasy in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin — about four and a half years ago.

My work is a fusion of linocut-inspired illustration and fine-line minimalism, striking a balance between bold contrast and delicate detailing. Surreal and poetic in essence, my pieces carry abstract compositions and symbolic imagery exploring themes of femininity, nature, and human connection — intimate, dreamlike scenes that linger. I draw equal inspiration from classical art and sculpture as from Berlin’s iconic rave culture.

The result is tattooing that feels less like a style and more like a medium: handcrafted and organic, closer to etching or printmaking than to conventional tattoo traditions. Each piece is shaped by my artistic background and a deep attentiveness to my clients’ visions — blurring the line between tattooing and fine art, making every design feel personal and timeless.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not. My career has been a series of detours, and for a long time I wasn’t sure I’d ever find the place where I truly belonged.

Studying Business Administration felt safe but completely wrong for me — I knew early on that I needed creativity in my work, but I didn’t yet know what form that would take. Fashion Design came closer, and I genuinely loved the craft, but the industry itself was something I struggled with. The culture, the pace, the values — it didn’t feel like home.

When I discovered tattooing, I finally felt like I had found my thing. But even then, it wasn’t easy. I was entirely self-taught, which meant a steep and often frustrating learning curve. When I tried to find a spot in a Berlin studio, I couldn’t get one — no one would take me on. That was a real blow at the time, but it also forced me to go my own way and build my skills independently, on my own terms.

Opening my own studio four and a half years ago was another challenge — suddenly I wasn’t just an artist, I was also running a business. That Business Administration degree I once thought was wasted? It turned out to be more useful than I ever expected.

Looking back, the struggles were the path. Every detour taught me something I carry into my work today. But with the current econimic and doing all by myself as a female entrepreneur there are still many challenges but i try to stay in line and optimistic and rise up again after every time i fall.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What most people probably know my work for is the combination of abstract, fluid patterns with the human body. There’s a recurring theme in what I do — the way bodies move, dissolve, and merge into something larger than themselves. I draw a lot of inspiration from rave culture and the feeling of collective experience: how people, bodies, and music become one. That energy lives in my work.

I often work with nude figures, though for me there’s nothing sexual about it. The body in its bare form is something universal — a shape where differences fall away and everyone becomes equal, part of a bigger whole. That idea of connection and fluidity runs through almost everything I make.

My style is always busy, a little dramatic — I love the tension between filigree linework and heavy black, the contrast between delicacy and boldness. I also like leaving room for interpretation. When you look at one of my pieces, it’s not always immediately obvious what you’re seeing, and I think that’s intentional. I want people to bring their own reading to it.

Another thing I return to often is the visual language of 15th and 16th century art — the body proportions, the compositions, the symbolism. I use those references consciously, as a way of pushing back against current beauty standards and asking what we consider ideal, and why.

What sets me apart, I think, is that my tattoos don’t feel like tattoos in the traditional sense. They’re closer to prints or etchings — handmade, layered, and always shaped by the individual body they live on.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I’d describe myself as a deeply sensitive and empathic person — sometimes perhaps too much so, and yes, definitely neurodivergent. But I’ve come to understand that this is also one of my greatest strengths, especially in the way I work with clients.

Getting a tattoo is an intimate experience. You’re sitting with someone for hours, sharing something vulnerable — your body, your story, your vision of what you want to carry with you permanently. Even if you never see each other again after that day, there’s a real exchange of energy happening, whether you talk a lot or barely at all. I take that seriously.

What I’m naturally good at is reading people — understanding what someone needs in a given moment and responding to that. Sometimes that means deep conversation, sometimes it means quiet. Sometimes it means gently guiding someone toward a creative decision, and sometimes it means stepping back and giving them space. I try to make the whole experience feel considered and safe, not just the end result.

I think that’s what sets me apart on a human level, beyond the artistic side of things. The tattoo is permanent, but so is the memory of how it felt to get it. I want both to be something people look back on with care.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.visionsofecstasy.de
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/etions_formidables/
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/_visionsofecstasy_/