Graffiti to Greatness

Growing up in a tiny Czechoslovakian Communist village “where dreaming was dangerous and speaking the truth could get you punished,” Ivana Belakova, founder of Long Beach-based IVANA TATTOO ART, was still drawn toward the colors and creatures that surrounded her. “We didn’t grow up with options; we grew up with ration lines, government fear, and the same rules passed down through the family,” she explains. “Everything was gray. Everything was silent. But inside me, there was color.”

Her passion for pigments and artistry steered her toward graffiti art until a friend placed a tattoo machine in her hand. “I’ll never forget the sound it made. It made me feel alive. I was instantly hooked. I didn’t have mentors. I didn’t have a roadmap. I didn’t even have proper supplies. But I had obsession,” Belakova reflects. “This was the thing that would let me tell stories on skin and take me out of the silence I was born into.”

Belakova describes her tattooing style as “funky color,” blending vibrant hues with representations of living entities, prismatic artworks that evoke emotional sentiments of intensity comingled with calmness. “Funky color is storytelling on skin,” she explains. “It’s graffiti, street art, abstract expressionism, and childhood imagination all colliding at once. I tattoo in layers, exaggerated lines, wild textures, emotions that don’t sit still, like me. There’s always movement. Always something beneath the surface.

“But it’s not just personal, it’s global,” she continues. “My work is shaped by my love for travel, for different cultures, for animals, for this wild, beautiful planet. I pull from the curiosity of children, the freedom in fantasy, and the feeling of looking at a map and seeing possibility. Every piece I create is a passport into something bigger, something only I can produce, once.”

Diagnosed with ADHD and obsessive-compulsive disorder, the self-taught artist relies on rhythm to create balance and stay grounded. Her tattooing style has evolved over the years to stay aligned with global artistic developments, but the way she tattoos remains consistent. “I still do everything by hand; no iPads, no tracing, no easy way out,” she says. “I need to feel the process, from the first sketch to the final drop of ink.”

Belakova says she has won first place at every tattoo convention she’s entered, from Paris to New York, Shanghai, Los Angeles, and Prague, and has garnered repute from the stars, inking individuals such as Mia Khalifa, Chris Brown, and Quavo. In 2018, the artist made history when MACRO, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome, certified Belakova’s tattoo work as contemporary fine art. She was the first woman in the world to attain such accolades.

While Belakova was absorbing the weight of this designation, COVID-19 ravaged the globe, and business operations paused, including tattoo studios. Unbeknownst to others, she thought about quitting. “Before COVID, I was all in. Tattooing was my oxygen. I lived on planes, in studios, in back-to-back conventions. My machine was always on. My identity was ink. Then the world shut down, and so did I,” she shares.

“During that silence, something cracked open,” she continues. “I stopped chasing and started listening. I had a full-blown awakening. I ended up being the only Slovakian ever granted a personal interview with Rhonda Byrne (author of “The Secret”), and it lit a fire I didn’t know I had. I saw how deeply people, especially in my country, were starving for self-belief. That’s when I pivoted. I started teaching what no one ever taught me: how to manifest, how to lead your own mind, how to turn pain into power.”

Belakova was silenced in her childhood, with no direction or support to pursue her passions, but this newfound confidence emerged, and she returned to art with more power and purpose. She’s currently in a “full-blown evolution,” writing more books, teaching global seminars, and venturing into modeling and acting.

“I’ve spent years putting permanent art on people’s skin; now I want to put energy on screens, emotion in front of the lens, and bring a new face to representation. One that doesn’t fit the mold. One that’s bold, international, edgy, real,” she says.

Success in tattooing doesn’t come easily, but to achieve it, Belakova advises aspiring tattoo artists to “Be original. This industry doesn’t need more copies, so don’t waste your time chasing trends or mimicking what’s popular on Instagram. Find your own rhythm, your own voice, even if it’s messy, even if it doesn’t fit in.”

To carve your own path in tattoo artistry, she emphasizes the importance of learning, discovering how to be more entwined with your passions, and most importantly, “to respect the skin, the story, the energy.” “Tattooing isn’t just drawing on skin; it’s a language,” she explains. “For me, it’s even deeper. I experience synesthesia, which means I feel colors in people. Every tattoo I create is built from emotion, frequency, and memory. It’s a full-body experience, not just technique.”

Belakova’s artworks extend beyond ink on skin. The IVANA TATTOO ART online store offers merchandise, such as apparel, prints, accessories, and coffee, that is either designed or curated by the artist herself. “It’s not just merch with my name slapped on it; it’s pieces I’d actually wear, hang on my walls, or drink in my own kitchen,” she says.

The tattoo industry has taken giant strides since Belakova first held a tattoo machine, but she embraces the changes. “I celebrate new blood, new energy,” she says, adding, “Do I miss it? No. I don’t really miss anything in life. I’m 100% present. I don’t live in nostalgia. I don’t cling. But I do wish the new generation would go back to the roots, the rawness, the code, the soul of what this was before it became an industry. That was magic. And I don’t know if we’ll ever see that again.”

Still, those roots stay firmly planted in tattooing history, guiding future artists as they navigate the constraints and opportunities to help them grow in an ever-changing landscape. Belakova’s story is evidence that originality, confidence, and tenacity still have the power to break through and create a life with transformative possibilities when you embrace your origins.