Vyvyn Lazonga

2015 "100 Years of Tattoos," by David McComb, Laurence King Publishing Ltd

2015 "World Atlas of Tattoo," by Anna Felicity Friedman, Yale University Press

2014 Stylist Magazine, "Vyvyn Lazonga: La Première á Avoir Jeté L'encre," May Issue

2014 Tätowier Magazine, "Kosmetische Tätowierungen," January Issue

2010 Tattoo Flash, "The Time of Her Life," July Issue

2007 Tattoo Magazine, "Vyvyn Lazonga," April Issue #221

2007 San Francisco Gate, Interview: "Finding My Religion," February 20 Issue

Lazonga has been featured in many magazines and books and currently writes columns for various tattoo magazines, including a regular column in Skin and Ink. She has also won numerous awards, including the artist's choice award at the 2005 National Tattoo Association convention. She still owns and operates her own studio in a historic building in the Pike Place market, in Seattle.

2002 "Tattoo Road Trip," by Bob Baxter, Schiffer Publishing

2002 International Tattoo Art Magazine, "Vyvyn Lazonga: In a Studio All Her Own," November Issue

2002 New York Times, Sunday Style Section, December Issue

1998 "Bodies of Subversion," by Margo Mifflin, Powerhouse Books

1996 "New Tattoo," by Victoria Lautman, Abbeville Press

She was also heavily tattooed at a time when it was unusual to see women with major tattoo work outside of sideshows. Asked about the public's perception of her full-sleeve tattoos, she said "I always felt strong and powerful about it, and I still do. But I try to keep my arms covered if I'm taking care of business -- I sorta wear a uniform according to what I'm doing. I want to get my business done quickly and easily, and I don't like having any hindrance or prejudice against me" (Vale and Juno 1989:125).

1989 RE/search, "Modern Primitives," by Andrea Juno & V. Vale, Issue #12

1988 Marks of Civilization, Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles, CA

When she began tattooing, there were very few women who had tattoos, not to mention who were working as tattoo artists. When she opened her studio in 1979, there were only a few women tattooing on the west coast. She had a difficult time being treated as an equal in her craft and acquiring a full apprenticeship. Her work opened many doors for women in the tattoo industry, and is still seen as an example of a fine artist working in the tattoo medium. She was also a pioneer in the use of large-scale full-body tattoos in the West. Victoria Lautman has cited her as an artist who helped "to shift tattoos away from fashionable little rainbows, flowers, and unicorns to the larger, fine-arts-related custom designs."

1977 "The Tattooists," by Albert L. Morse, San Francisco, CA

Vyvyn Lazonga is a tattoo artist who began her career in Seattle in the early 1970s and was trained by Danny Danzl. She was the first woman to work for herself in the industry, not her husband or another male shop owner. She worked in San Francisco and was tattooed by Ed Hardy in the 70s. She won the award for Best Tattooed Female in 1978 for his work. Later she was fortunate enough to meet Horiyoshi II at one of Lyle Tuttle's parties before returning in 1989 to open her studio in Seattle.