Carolina Caos Avalle

I’m Carolina Caos Avalle. I work at the “RoyaleInk collective” in Voghera, in the province of Pavia, and in the United States—especially at Inked in NYC.

I was born in Milan but I now live and work in Voghera. I’m 35 years old and have been drawing for as long as I can remember. I’ve been tattooing for about 11 years. My journey truly began when I met my current partner and colleague, Stefano Galati.

I taught myself, and it was really difficult. My approach started from painting, drawing, and my previous studies in graphics and illustration. From there, I tried to understand how to translate these skills into tattooing.

Before tattooing, I studied psychology and graduated from the European Institute of Design in Milan. I have worked countless jobs—in animation studios, for publishers, creating graphics for various activities and companies, and even as a cake designer. I love to paint, not for work, but for the joy of it.

I love travelling. In recent years, I have done countless guest appearances and collaborations, participated in many tattoo conventions, and put myself to the test in numerous contests, winning more than 50 prizes. Now, I have an almost entirely foreign clientele. For this reason, a year ago I also started working in the United States. I alternate periods in Italy with periods in various parts of the USA, which allows me to travel a lot—something that has always been a great passion of mine. I love my job because it allows me to do what I love from various points of view.

I began this journey having to compare and learn numerous styles and execution techniques. Thanks to this, over time I managed to create my own personal interpretation by fusing them together to create unique and harmonious compositions. So my style is the fruit of my studies and my background, and it is always evolving.

Stefano Galati and I often collaborate on projects, especially if they are very large and at the specific request of the client. What unites us is a harmony found from the beginning, both at work and in private life. Perhaps because we have two totally different styles, we are able to blend them together and find harmony in our projects as well. I take care of the illustrative, realistic part and the setting up of the project, while Stefano focuses more on the graphic aspect and balancing the project—studying its final shape, weights, and balances based on the shapes of the body. We would like to create new collaborations and study and experiment with new ideas and solutions.

I have always loved painting and illustration, but unfortunately, I’ve managed to dedicate little time to them. Tattooing takes up 90% of my time and my life. The sessions are always 6 to 8 hours long, not including the preparation, the relationship with the client before, during, and after the session, the explanation of the project, and the preparation of the stencils, etc.

Besides this, each project design requires a lot of work—sometimes from 10 hours up to several days. There is a lot of work behind every tat