Last in town during the Singapore Tat2 Convention 2010, we met up with Kim Saigh and sat her down for a conversation and some great insights. Known to many as part of the crew on LA Ink, Kim shares with us her thoughts on her tattoo career, the LA Ink programme, and her love for art. The full interview below.

Where and when did you start your tattoo career?

I started tattooing in my hometown of Cleveland Ohio, I tattooed there for about 2.5 years, before moving to Chicago. That was under a suggestion by a friend, and I ended up working for my favourite tattoo artist. He owned the tattoo studio with his brother. I worked with him for a couple of years, and from there I opened my own  tattoo studio and had that for the past 10 years. So I was in Chicago for a total of about 13 years.

Outside the US, have you tried your hand in working for another tattoo studio?

Nope not at all, I’ve been within the USA for my entire tattooing career. Even at this installment of the Singapore Tat2 convention, I won’t be tattooing as well. I’ll just be chilling and hanging out! I might do drawings, but I’ll definitely be involved in judging the contests held there.

From the Singaporean perspective, the only avenue we get to see you guys from LA Ink is via the TV show on Discovery Travel and Living channel. Tell us, from what we see, how real is that in reality?

Not very real at all. Well you gotta understand that its cast as a television show. For example, if a fire truck passes by when we’re filming, they would have to redo the entire scene, so that takes away the spontaneous and natural element. But for the cast, we all went into it not knowing what to expect, so we’re just coping with whatever comes our way.

As for the customers that are on the show, how are they chosen to be tattooed?

For the people who get ink done, they apply to the show, and they send in to the show why they should be selected, photos of themselves, etc. the producers will decide on the participants, and we’ll do a sign off to agree on doing a tattoo for them. The thing is, we’ll have to agree on doing a particular tattoo for someone, when we actually haven’t met them. Cos  we all do custom work, and we all meet with our clients before hand to discuss on the tattooing design, concept and process. And in my eyes, the hardest thing we had to do in the show was working with the people chosen before ever meeting them for discussions, and doing the entire process in one day. As a result, it’s hard for us to place the same amount of effort into it, but we try our best as we care about the art more than the show, thus we naturally try to overcome obstacles, and let the tattooing speak for itself.

During the process of sketching or tattooing, knowing that there are cameras around you, does it make a difference for you?

Definitely, I would much prefer to do it without live watching eyes, much less cameras! I’m pretty comfortable with them, but you know when the camera is watching, the cameraman might go” hey your hand  is covering up that one spot, could you move your hand please” But I’ll normally just say I’ll need my hand there to properly balance to carry out the drawing or tattooing. So that’s the kind of thing you’ll have to cope with.

What inspires you to draw, and how did you find out that you have a talent for tattooing?

Well I’ve drawn my whole life. I really didn’t know what ill do if not for drawing. I started having an early gravitation for tattoos from the age of 15-16, so when the opportunity for me to tattoo surfaced, I immediately jumped at it, I ate slept and breathed tattoo. I was so obsessed with it, and everything else had to fit around it, it was my main focus and driving force. So I carried on, and 5 years went by, then 10, and it carried me to where I am now. I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t start tattooing. I felt it totally saved my life.

At the start, did you want to tattoo more or get a tattoo instead?

Well both, I always saw my friend’s tattoos and they were really bad. Some of them were hand poked and I really wished that I could fix those. During that time I too haven’t really seen good work as well, so when the day came that I was exposed to brilliant tattoo artists and tattoo work, I was astounded. I believe it was my destiny to be a tattoo artist.

Were you more excited during your first tattooing experience or did your nerves get the better of you?

I was feeling a mixture of both. Nervous because if I did a bad job, I was afraid they may not want to continuing hiring me. Well I think I did a bad job then, but thankfully they still kept me.

What’s coming up for Kim Saigh, any personal plans?

I’m really excited to have guest artists at a studio, as it creates energy, and allows great ideas to bounce off each other. We can see and critic on each others’ work. That’s how I believe we all can learn and improve ourselves and our standards. Personally, I’d love to paint more and be more artistic.

How do you describe your personal style of tattooing?

I really love organic flowing moving shapes, plant life, animals and nature. I feel that those really stand the test of time. When I was younger, I wanted to do other things that look really cool, but the older I get I’m more inclined to thing that are more subtle but yet classic.