Ciara Havishya

Canadian, birthdate unknown

Ciara Havishya sees body art as a means of empowerment and having ownership over your own body. After attending Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, British Columbia, Havishya began the process of learning how to tattoo.

Inspired by early travels, family traditions, and their family’s diverse art collection including Persian, Indian, and Mughal art, Havishya has developed a unique aesthetic. Havishya’s work concentrates heavily on globally-influenced pattern and decoration to holistically embellish the anatomy of their clients, often creating large-scale coverage. Conscious of the social, religious, and spiritual context emergent in their work, Havishya’s designs respect the ofttimes difficult dialogues created when incorporating different cultural influences. Grounding their work in the rigid rules of composition of traditional Indian art, and drawing on their multi-cultural and queer roots, they are able to push artistic boundaries yet retain full agency of their personal identity and a deep sense of authenticity in their work.

My parents and grandparents took me and traveled the world.  We went to the Louvre and to the Getty Museum in Paris.  We went to China and India. I just went to all these different places from a really young age.  We’d go to art museums and galleries, and I hated it as a kid.  As I started to get older, I started to really get into it.  I started to get some understanding of [how] art has shaped our world and our culture.  That experience and that saturation … really made me want to be a part of it.  I found a way of doing that through tattoos.