About

Chris Martinez grew up in the small farming town, Immokalee Florida. One of America’s most poverty stricken communities, breeding crime and ambition. Harnessing his passion for art at a young age, he used it to leave the gritty streets behind him. The street life showing itself in his work, the rawness and real world views are captivating. His self taught style has quickly catapulted him to the top of the art world. At the tender young age of 10 Chris began his tattoo career by tattooing with a pick and poke style tattoo he did on himself. By the age of 13 he continued his tattoo path by tattooing his peers in school with a homemade “jail house” style machine, a memory he looks back at with cringe and laughter. At 18 his grandmother purchased Chris a “professional” tattoo machine kit from a local pawn shop. The kit was an old style Hulk and Spaulding wasp set with the lunchbox power supply, he continued tattooing off and on for years before landing a full time position in a tattoo shop. Unfortunately in his younger years Chris was in and out of trouble, he was kicked out of 2 high schools before dropping out and working physical labor intensive jobs while still amateurishly attempting his art career. From the ages of 18-25 Chris was arrested multiple times for misdemeanor charges, trouble seeming to find him at every turn, he dabbled in drugs vicariously. Indiscriminately from the young age of 13 he experimented with whatever came his way with the exception of what he deemed of as hard drugs. Til one day he woke up and left that life behind. he had his first child and created a family. His family being the catalyst he didn’t know he needed to fuel his desire to purse his art career using his talents to support his family.