Meet Yi Shi | Multidisciplinary Artist, Tattooer, Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Yi Shi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Yi, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?

I am Yi. I am a full time tattooer, part time multidisciplinary art creator. Actually, even saying the word full time / part time is a bit untruthful. Full time is such a capitalist nine to five concept already. So… Hi I am Yi. I am an artist, and tattooing is the most popular service that I provide to my client, as well as my main source of income – that will do it. I am my own boss.

I used to tattoo subcontracted at a street shop for too many years than I should have allowed myself to, where we were unfairly required to stay at work from 12pm to 8pm, five days a week, labouring away on custom designs and last minute walk-ins. I was young at that time, full of college student energy, yet the 40 hour work week plus all the admin and drawing after work quickly drained me. There was no social life outside of it. I started to lose my friends, my motivation, and my health.

Fast forward to 2019, I had to experience an excruciating health emergency, through which, a blessing in disguise, I realised what I have to do to feel alive, and eventually left the toxic environment. Moving on, as I started working for myself with a group of great like-minded queer and trans tattooers, I got to optimise my own schedule throughout the years. Lately, I am physically at the studio for no more three days a week, very happily participating in local communities that nourish me, and making all kinds of non-tattoo art again.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
There were so many highs and lows in this creative journey, and I have definitely changed a lot. I do feel personally that the art I like to create tends to feel so close to my heart, and speaks to my personal experience at that stage of life. Work hard, rest hard, be true, take care of your soul. I definitely seek out many new mediums to make art in, in a sporadically minded hobbyist’s fashion. That keeps the curiosity going when I’m feeling stagnant, and often sparks something in me when I go back to my old practices. Lately, I’ve paused tattooing for a summer to focus on filmmaking for the first time, and it was an exhilarating experience. I’d highly recommend it. Take a chance!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Funny enough, my decade-long Internet friend just visited again from Chicago. Although the winter itinerary in Toronto would be drastically different from a summer one… Let’s just say, the climate is human friendly. My friend and I would be hanging around Chinatown and Kensington Market a lot, where there are great Asian eats, as we both grew up in China with our “Chinese stomachs”. We would go to local markets and thrift stores after. Toronto is super walkable, so long walks through neighbourhoods are a must. Maybe sprinkle in some bike trips here and there – sunset by the beaches is always a beauty. At night, we would go to free movies at TIFF, or attend a New Ho Queen party and sweat away.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I gotta shout out to my now studio mates, who first gave me a chance to co work in their space when I took the leap after leaving a toxic workplace – EK @ek.tattoos, Charlie @scratch.pepper, and Rowan @rowan_aurora. Shout out to New Ho Queen collective @newhoqueen, who made me feel so belonged in the local queer trans pan-Asian community. The community is filled with bright minds and loving souls. Creating art and growing with them is the most nourishing experience.

Website: https://postyism.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/postyism/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/postyism

Image Credits
First portrait of me sketching in the garden, faceless, taken by Mengwen Cao. Me sitting at the studio, by Beau Gomez. Two photos at Reel Asian Film Festival, by Mike Tjioe. Others by me.