milla oliveira
she/they
Milla Oliveira, a multidisciplinary artist from Rio de Janeiro, has spent the last 15 years living, studying and teaching art in the landscapes of the PNW. Her artistic journey began with a tattoo apprenticeship in the heart of Oregon, where she put form to a lifelong interest in guiding individuals through personal metamorphosis. Yet, she could not ignore the limitations within the tattoo industry`s cultural and aesthetic representations at the time, particularly in terms of queer and healing-centered narratives.
Determined to further her studies, Milla completed the BFA Program at Oregon State University. In parallel, she held sacred spaces for reciprocal learning-teaching dynamics, facilitating creative processes to individuals of all ages, within public schools and private mentorships. Through various modalities, including Painting, Drawing, Dance and Mentoring, Milla`s artistry centers the cultivation of healthy environments. She advocates for spaces that provide safety, room to breathe, and boundless inspiration allowing authentic expression to flourish.
In this manner, the reams of Painting and Drawing were more than artistic disciplines - they were safe havens where she could meet and transform her own mindset, as well as ponder her relationship to place. Living as a brown indigenous person in predominantly white spaces, she used her art as a mediating force, offering healing to others and also to herself.
In 2022 Milla reconnected with tattooing within the embrace of the queer, love-centered community at Lilith Tattoo. Seattle, a new and foreign landscape to Milla, became her muse and sanctuary. Here, her days are rhythmically punctuated by leisurely neighborhood walks amidst the graceful beauty of flowers. In the blooming and wilting of petals, Milla meets the visual symphony of life, affirming notes on the power and beauty permeating all seasons of living beings.
In the healed world Milla envisions, we are all like flowers: unfiltered in our radiance, at peace with the vast diversity of our expression, striking awe while claiming our full potential in moments of stillness.
Her communion with flowers evolves into a communion with individuals who embrace her original designs into their bodies. Milla`s creations are celebrations of self-acceptance, reminders that we may be at ease with who we are in the present, while invoking the best parts of ourselves as we journey forth through life. In designing each series of abstracted floral tattoos, Milla weaves codes of authenticity, resilience and radiant beauty that bloom when we honor our unique expressions, ensuring us that like flowers, we are all exquisite in our own way.
To book with Milla, email her directly at millaoliva.flores@gmail.com
You can check out her works and upcoming projects on
IG: @milla_oliva_