Shining a light on the world of art

In his 16 years as a tattoo artist, Chaboya has traveled across the world to share his art, finding himself in Cape Town, London, Paris and Portland, among many other cities. In his travels, he’s been drawn to people with obsessions and passions they just can’t shake. Whether he meets an architect interested in laser cutting wood to create intricate earrings and pendants or a designer who creates stained glass wall adornments and jewelry made with natural elements like feathers and snakeskin, Chaboya said he feels a responsibility to draw others into the art that inspires him during his travels.

“I love meeting people who obsess over things,” he said. “If they obsess enough over something … they just gotta do it, it’s like breathing to them … those people they’re to me what life’s about.”

Chaboya said he first felt a responsibility to ensure his work is inspiring other artists while watching a man paint a canal scene on a bridge in Amsterdam some four years ago. Initially drawn to watching the artist’s technique and process, Chaboya said he soon became fascinated by the passersby who joined him in watching the man. Struck by the sheer number of people the artist touched in one afternoon, he wondered how he could reach more people with not only his work, but also the art and artists he finds intriguing.

“That’s when I definitely felt like ‘you’re not doing enough to show people who are artistically inclined that they can have a life of art,’” he said. “They don’t have to become what society tells you you need to become … It might come with its own layers of complexities, without a doubt. But you still definitely can.”

In shaping plans for his own gallery, Chaboya felt it was important the space could allow him to tattoo clients and paint but also make room for the dozens of art pieces he and his wife Ellen Chaboya arrange there. Though it offers visitors of the gallery an opportunity to see him at different stages of his work, Chaboya also acknowledged the multi-functional nature of the gallery is necessary given how expensive space can be to rent in the Bay Area.

Though Chaboya went to the California College of the Arts in San Francisco to earn a bachelor’s in fine art in painting and drawing, he found himself seeking an art that had more community around it and felt tattooing provided that for him. Because the art was not as widespread as it is now when he began a two-year apprenticeship in tattooing, Chaboya found a tight-knit community among other tattoo artists and enthusiasts.

Though it doesn’t finance the entire business, Chaboya, 38, said tattooing has made it possible for him to share others’ work in the gallery and continue to travel, something he said his family couldn’t afford when he was growing up in San Jose.

“Without tattooing, none of this exists,” he said. “Tattooing is the thing that has made art a very real thing for me.”

He said he’s also able to take a much smaller percentage of the profits from the sale of an artist’s work than other stores or galleries might, which he said can reach up to 50 percent of a sale. Between Chaboya and his wife Ellen Chaboya, who coordinates his tattooing schedule and manages the store’s inventory, the couple is able to manage most aspects of the business, he said, noting his mother Mary Chaboya also helps them cover shifts from time to time.

With a background in sales and customer services, Ellen Chaboya said coordinating the operations of the business is something that comes naturally for her, noting the distinct roles she and her husband take on has worked well for them. She said they were also excited to have fulfilled goals of inviting the community into the gallery for figure-drawing classes and the openings of two art shows in the last year.

Ellen Chaboya, who is expecting a child in the coming months, acknowledged in the 2 1/2 years since the gallery opened, the couple has been able to fulfill many of their goals, which includes starting a family and also being able to foster a community around art. While she noted they spend many hours on their business, she credited the gallery for allowing them to live what some might consider an alternative lifestyle, one rooted in their love for each other and the goals they have set for their future.

“We work really hard for it,” she said of their lifestyle. “We are reflective of our business and also what we like for each other.”

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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