Decorative graphic bars

Kaiiza a conscientious tattoo artist

Designer by training

Long before ink and tattoo machines, there was a CFC in graphic design (the Swiss federal diploma), earned in 2015 at the school of applied arts in La Chaux-de-Fonds, then a year as a graphic designer in Lausanne. You'll find that background in my work as a tattoo artist: an eye for proportions, placements and contrasts that are right and striking, balanced compositions, and a "strict" touch that makes projects solid.

My graphic and abstract style didn't come out of nowhere: my initial training as a designer and my taste for visual balance brought my love for this style into tattooing.

Portrait of Kaiiza, sitting in front of the wall of frames in her studio

Cleanroom where hygiene became second nature

Between graphic design and tattooing, my path included a year at a dental-implant factory in the Bernese Jura, sterilising equipment for cleanrooms: autoclaves, airlocks, cross-contamination protocols. It wasn't the career plan, but it became a reflex. The rigour I bring to hygiene at the studio today comes from that experience: sterile, in-date equipment, clean workstations, and the canton of Vaud's regulations (hygiene rules are cantonal in Switzerland) followed to the letter.

Rigour and hygiene have been integral to my practice since January 2021.

Kaiiza cleans the tattoo table, gloves on
A drop of ink poured into a cap at the studio
Kaiiza, focused, tattooing a leg

Old school a studio apprenticeship

In 2020, the need to create with my hands won out: I returned to art. There is no Swiss federal training programme for tattoo artists, so I chose the traditional route: an old-school apprenticeship at Think Tattoo, in Montreux, which I secured in October 2020 after a summer of relentless drawing.

I've been tattooing since January 2021. My first six months: around a hundred practice tattoos, only on people I knew, until my mentors judged my technique (and my cleanliness) ready for their clients. I stayed until August 2024, then joined Rúben at Amartato Studio, in Villeneuve, where I tattoo today.

When a project calls for time, I take it. Rigour gives the result that extra edge.

A strength & the style I love

Since I started tattooing in January 2021, people have often commented on my rigour and the care I give to every detail: I take the time the project calls for, and it shows on skin. Today, I make a point of keeping that strength at the heart of my graphic and abstract work.

I love it when things feel visually balanced. I love how an element seen as "simple" can bring strength just by being in exactly the right place. Precision calls for a kind of focus I love, and the challenge of building a design on the body fascinates me. That's why I love this style, why I've chosen to put it first, and why I'm eager to develop it: its story is only just beginning.

see the graphic gallery

Want to know more

is there an official tattoo-artist diploma in switzerland?

No. No diploma, no recognised training: in Switzerland, any path can lead to calling yourself a tattoo artist. That's why I chose the long way: a full studio apprenticeship, signed off by my mentors.

do you only do graphic and abstract tattoos?

It's my signature style and the one I put forward, but I'm versatile. One real limit: realism and photorealism (copying photos, no outlines), that's not my ground.

do you tattoo in colour?

Yes, but it's rare: my work is very largely black. If your project calls for colour, mention it in your project request and we'll look at it together.

where can i see your work?

Two places: the galleries on this site, sorted by style and subject, and my Instagram, where I also post my tattoos. Start with the portfolio: it's the selection I find most representative of what I love to do.

where do you tattoo?

Grand Rue 10, 1844 Villeneuve, Vaud, Switzerland, at street level, a 3-minute walk from the train station. See the address on Google Maps. Everything you need to get here (public transport, parking, accessibility) is waiting on the practical info page.

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tell me about your project