Tamara, an unusual name

A choice that was no accident

My parents chose my first name in reference to Tamara de Lempicka. For a long time, honestly, I didn't really think about it. Her paintings were there, at home, I walked past them every day. It wasn't until I grew up that I began to understand who she really was, and what that name carried with it.

My father's world

My father likes those eras. Art Deco, Victorian style, Napoleon. He opened Gourmet & Glutton, a restaurant in Chaudes-Aigues, the village that bears our name in the Cantal. A period Napoleon sofa in damask, gilded frames, a cast-iron street lamp inside, a burgundy facade with Belle Époque ornaments, an Art Nouveau illustration on the menu.

It is in that world that I grew up, and it is precisely what can be found today in my tattoo style.

A name with history

I never told myself I had to look like Tamara de Lempicka. But looking back, bearing that name, growing up surrounded by those images, it was bound to have shaped something. A taste for style, ambition, drawing, all of that settled in naturally, without me really trying to explain it. That is part of what I am exploring in how to build an artistic identity in tattooing.

The actual discovery

The day I really immersed myself in her work, I discovered a truly immense artist. A free, uncompromising, determined woman. I wanted to anchor her in my own story. Her self-portrait first, then the portrait of Mrs Allan Bott, which my father tattooed on me. It wasn't just a tribute. It was a transmission. That's also what I talk about in Tamara Chaudesaigues — when your name precedes you.

Tamara de Lempicka and tattoo art: the tangible connection

After a year of practice, I've started a full sleeve around his universe, notably featuring the portrait of Madame Boucard, like a conversation between their work and mine. It was this work that allowed me to understand what really touches me in art: the strength of the figures, their presence, their character. That is where the connection with Art Nouveau became clearer. Not the same style, not the same era, but the same logic. Lines that follow the body, images that actually exist on the skin.

An inescapable coincidence

Christmas 2024. I am looking for last-minute gifts and I stumble across a book entitled Tamara by Tatiana. My name is Tamara. My cat is called Tatiana. A friend I showed her to told me that she was my mantra and that I had to buy her. She was right.

Recognise something familiar

I read it in one go, which is not like me at all. I followed her life, her flight from the war, Paris, the nights spent painting, the thirst for success and recognition. A woman who loved fine things and owned it completely. What struck me wasn't admiration. It was something stranger: recognising a familiar energy in someone whose first name is all I share. Which probably explains why I'm such a pain in the arse to myself.

What a first name can convey

I only inherited a name. But sometimes, a first name is enough to pass on a vision, an ambition and a way of moving forward.