A week or so ago I tattooed my roommate Brittany. She gave one of the coolest request I have I have ever received...brittany asked for a version of one of my own paintings, "The Great Cycle" from a series I started last year called "The as above so below series" I had so much fun I had to share...
Now, I never intended to tattoo that image, so for our purposes I needed to reevaluate my original concept and format it to be a lasting tattoo with flow to the body. At the end of the day the only blatant imagery from the painting I used was the skull and keyhole but I do feel that my original idea is still in tact just with a slightly different approach. So keeping true to the title of this blog here's the rundown of the image.
1) The skull: I use skulls quite a bit in my art. And the reason I do this is...well, to me the skull is a perfect way to represent humanity in a universal way. I's a unifying feature that can be free from racial, or sexual stereotypes. It also seems to have an "edgy" appeal that gets reaction.... sometimes positive sometimes negative depending on the viewer. As far as I can tell, good or bad, reaction is a win.
2a) Oak Leaves: On a personal level, I LOVE to look at leaves! and if I love it it should be in my art. The beauty and perfection of nature moves me on a daily basis. Trees in particular remind me of a sort of nervous system of the earth... Gathering information from above to feed below. At the end of every branch a leaf reaches to the heavens to grab the infinite bounty and splendor of the universe and give it back to it's source. Mediators to the conversations of celestial bodies.
2b) In different occult studies the oak was a representation of God.
3)The Golden Spiral: In the background I used a sort of halo/ flourish that I built from the golden spiral. Here's a fun little video I found a while back that illustrates the golden spiral/ ratio very well....
4) The Keyhole: To me the keyhole represents mystery but it implies that there is accessibility to the secrets of the other side. All are shut out... unless you obtain the key.
So to summarize, man is surrounded by divinity from birth to death. We are cradled by our source. Yet understanding is locked away... If we seek the key, we fall into an infinite spiral of creation and universal truth.
I got to put a lot of myself into this project. and I am very proud of the result. In the future I hope to be given more opportunities to be so immersed in my work.
