I’m Kiara Toledo, an east coast girl who grew up among Staten Island, many spots in NJ, and Jacksonville FL.

As an Ecuadorian American artist I’ve felt inspired and in a way saved by connecting my artistic expression with my ancestral practices.

Tattooing is an ancient rite of passage, Andean traditions seem to always bring us back to the wholeness of our existence, that we are of each other. I get to meet people in a really vulnerable and brave state, when I mirror that I find more of myself through their journey and we can move together to create something that becomes a part them. In ceremony I offer energy work, Churaq which is an Andean healing modality, sometimes medicine songs, and readings through animal spirits or corn kernels.

A lot of things clicked for me when I picked up the tattoo machine, it felt familiar.

I started practicing in quarantine 2020 and got an official apprenticeship three years later in NYC. During my apprenticeship period I was also studying under Andean Misayoqs learning the Andean Cosmovision, offered my first despacho, and eventually learned totem anointment ceremonies.

This path has lead me to not only tattoo, but to create art and community gatherings “Prayers in Ink 2024 NYC” rooted in honoring ancestral practices and supporting other artists who work in cultural preservation and indigenous tattooing.

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