Tattoos as reminder of the path of life

Hello everybody! (: This week I conducted a few interviews I would like to share with you all and start with Michele

Michele is 24 years old and from Italy. He has a total of 11 tattoos which are all concentrated around 3 areas; his back, shoulders and chest. He told me the meanings of his favorite tattoos since all his tattoos are related to a specific event or period of his life.  It started off when he drew his first tattoo himself which he got on his back at his 18^th Birthday in Texas.  Since he went to Texas twice, he got a Taurus on the first visit and the symbols of Texas; two long stars on his second one. Since he was in Milano, he got the letter ‘M’ tattooed as it is the first letter of his and his parents name brother and the city. After graduating from high school his next project was the swallow which represent his new gained freedom. In the morning his grandmother past away she left a small note with a sentence which he then got engraved as a stimulus to get the best out of life. The next tattoo came along on his exchange in Maastricht, a small town in the Netherlands. His time there revealed to be a strange period of his life as he felt really passive and inactive during the time. Therefore, his tattoo is connected a Japanese Legend: The Legend is about a koi carp looking for something more than its usual pond which decides to rise up the waterfall and seeks knowledge. By doing so it became a dragon. So this tattoo is related to his life situation as it is a reminder for him to rise out of the passiveness with new energy. Another challenging situation came along when he and his girlfriend separated after 4 years in a relationship. Six months of locking himself up in the house and studying followed after which his next tattoo was made. This is a flaming heart with the number thirteen in it. The tattoo represents passion and the number thirteen symbolized death and re-birth, which is also very fitting at that point in time. After graduating university the situation came to decide where to go and what do; study? Work? Go to Milano?  The Netherlands?. As a surprise and present from a close friend of his he got the circus figure of a tight rope walker. After all, he came to the Netherland and finished this master which is connected to a Key tattoo. This symbolizes his future in the sense that new doors can be unlocked. Finally, when he had a boxing tournament and his shoulder went off he got a good luck tattoo on there with boxing gloves. Boxing gloves are connected to his life as he is practicing boxing himself since a couple of years. He also has a dragon tattoo is on the left shoulder tiger on the right.  He learned randomly after that according to middle age Chinese mythology that the dragon on the right side symbolized mediation as the body is split into right and left part.

For the future he plans to get the sentence’ Memento mori’ tattooed which means that you should remember that you are going to die. This is connected to his life as his father was suddenly supposed to die but survived. Also, therefore he is planning to get a skull with an hourglass and the word ‘remember’. When it comes to pain the most painful tattoos was the one on his ribs. For him it can’t be described as liking the pain but it’s rather cathartic. When you are trough the pain you can clear your mind and body and concentrate of memory and thing that happened, you step forward.

Tattoos and Society

He likes tattoos as he was always and is interested in visual arts and interesting thinks it is interesting to transfer arts to storytelling by getting a tattoo which tells his story. For him his tattoos are a memory of his path rather than his past. They have meaning and are not just made for fun. He perceives tattoos not so much as self-expression but to others but rather a way to express something just for himself and his close environment. He believes that art is for many so when an artist has the opportunity to make a tattoo he is confirming himself as a tattoo artist and is selling his work the same way as a normal artist sells his paintings. When I further asked what he his thinking of the current trend of making tattoos just because it is ‘modern he says that he has a contrasting feeling about it. It can either be seen as a bad thing to just get tattoos for fun since they will stay forever. He thinks it is stupid to get a tattoo without any meaning. On the other hand he thinks it is good that tattoos are popular as it also gets more popular and accepted in society. People might then perceive it in a batter light and it also gives artist more chances to express their skills.

Perceptions of tattoos

As his tattoos can be covered underneath a shirt, they are invisible for the wider public. He did so on purpose, as he believes that although everybody nowadays everybody has tattoos there are still perceived negatively. He thinks that people with tattoos are portrayed as outcasts in society or not fitting into society. He does not care about judgment by others but he also does not want to make the first impression as the guy with the tattoos. As he thinks that the 1^st impression is important as people subconsciously make a judgment about everybody. For instance about way you dress what you show and say. If you show tattoos bad things such as crime are related with you. Concluding: ‘It is not because I am ashamed but don’t want give the 1^st impression as the guy with tattoos`.

Tattoos and his surroundings

Next I asked how his surroundings thought about his tattoos he made clear that the impressions are mixed. A couple of his friends share his passion for tattoos and like them whereas some others don’t. When it comes to his family his mother sees his tattoos as wasting money and destroying one’s body. This opinion is also shared by his brother as he also thinks that tattoos are perceived negatively in society. Also he underlines that there are health risks, such as infections. Negative reactions by strangers are for example on the beach. There he feels perceived and judged as the guy with tattoos. He feels like people reacted differently as he sometimes gets positive comment referring to the good art. Some expressed a shocked look. Further people who knew him were surprised since they didn’t expect him to have some.  In addition, other negative encounters where with some girls who did not like his tattoos. The he sometimes feel sorry missed chance of getting close to somebody interesting while at the same time feeling sorry for their limited horizon.


Did anybody of you ever feel that you are perceived negatively because of Tattoos?