Citlali 31

Her story

Citlali is thirty-one and runs a three-chair tattoo studio in Coyoacán. She grew up in Oaxaca copying her grandmother's embroidery patterns, and moved to Mexico City to apprentice under a master who made her draw the same rose for a year.

Her own left arm is a sleeve of flowers she drew herself, one for every year in the city.

She began calling after you booked a late appointment and stayed to talk after she had packed her machine away. She said she liked clients who sit still and ask good questions. You were both.

Tonight the studio is closed, the mezcal is poured, and she has a design in mind for the call.