The Story Behind the Meaning of Tattoos
In March 2023, tattoo artist Joaquin Harris, known in the tattoo community as “Harris Tattoo” (@Harris.tattoo) was getting ready to participate in the “Rosario Tattoo Convention”, with his team from the studio “HTH Tattoo” (@hth.tattoo) set in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The convention took place at Rosario is one of the largest cities in Argentina, culturally vibrant and characteristically known as the “City of Crafters” (ciudad de los artesanos) located in the province of Santa Fe.
He passionately speaks about tattoo art, as a scientist or a physician would speak about their love for science:
“The contemporary tattoo world reflects the mixing of different cultures. It is the result of thousands and thousands of travelers around the world, unconsciously exchanging ideas from one culture to another, with the carrying of symbols and visual elements. It is cultural knowledge travelling through the blood.”
When asked about how he would define or present his own style, he fervidly described himself as an innovator.
“I would rather mix and experiment instead of marrying only one style. But if I had to fit myself in one category, I would say I am at the line where realism and Japanese styles meet."
He also mentioned the influence of traditional tattoos in his work and how he grew up aspiring to become the next “Ed Hardy”.
For the Rosario convention, Harris collaborated with a colleague to design a tattoo, mixing the style of the two artists.
They designed a reinterpretation of the Hindu goddess Kali, who is considered the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in the Hindu Shakiest ancient religion. “Archaeological finding suggest that Shaktism goes back to prehistoric times.”
In the Shakiest religion, Kali, known as “Kali Mata” (The dark mother) is regarded as the last manifestation of “Shakti”, the primordial cosmic energy and the mother of all living beings. She is thought to have emerged from the Durga, mother goddess.
Over time, the power and the knowledge of Kali has reached other religious communities, like Tanctrics. Kali shares some characteristics with the ancient eastern goddesses. She drinks blood like the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet and wears a necklace of heads and a belt of hands like the Levantine goddess Anat.
Kali has two depictions, the four-armed form and the ten-armed Mahakali avatar. She is usually painted in black or blue, with red eyes, a lolling tongue and fangs sometimes coming out of her mouth.
In the reinterpretation of the ancestral goddess that Harris did, the idea was to merge his realism and Japanese style with his collaborator’s traditional style, to create a version of a “Modern Kali”.
“The Modern Kali is a way of connecting the past with the present through tattoo art. Using the symbolism of this goddess is a way of remembering emotions like rage, impotence, violence that the Hindu’s explained through this god in pre-historic times and give them life in the present.” Harris said.
In other words, we could think that he asked himself the question: how would Kali look like in contemporary culture?
To get a better understanding of the symbolism of tattoos in contemporary culture, who better to provide us with answers that someone who is fond of tattoos. Someone like Klaus Nielsen, who lent his body as a canvas to tattoo artist Harris in the “Rosario Tattoo Convention”.
“I feel like a canvas. I think that it is very important to trust the artist's instincts and processes. I try to stay calm and enjoy the journey. At the end, I feel like they’ve given me a part of them. It’s like receiving a gift.”, he shared.
In the case of the “Modern Kali” tattoo that Harris gifted him with, we could think that he received the gift of time. When he discussed with Harris the idea of how “Modern Kali” was a way of bringing from the past emotions of rage, violence and impotence, he felt like he was relieving his own childhood.
“Knowing what Harris wanted to represent with this tattoo, I no longer think of it simply as “trendy”, “cool” or “aesthetic”. I feel as if his idea is now impregnated in my own skin, and the emotions of range that Kali represents have come to life in my own body. When I look at the tattoo now, I feel like it is connecting me with my own past, my own childhood experiences. It takes me back to those times where I often felt angry and impotent as a child or as a teen.”
As a child, Klaus Nielsen endured a hard parent divorce, and he grew up with a sister with a mental disorder. He often experienced situations of violence with his sister in his own household.
When presented the story of the “Modern Kali”, anthropologist Alex Horsey provided an interesting point of view.
“With globalization and technology, I believe that the ancient conceptual meaning and uses of tattoos, as a visual language has been lost. But it is interesting to see how tattoos have evolved to become “trendy” in modern culture, and the amazing things that tattoo artists are creating taking inspiration from the origins of tattoos.”
We could think that what originally started out as a tool of visual communication for practical purposes in different cultures, has now become a form of contemporary art.
She was personally moved when she learned about the work of tattoo artist Harris, and the personal meaning that the “Modern Kali” acquired in the skin of Klaus Nielsen.
“I think that what they did is very beautiful. In this case, tattoos are not only connected with anthropology or sociology, but with psychology as well. It couldn't be a better example of how tattoos are often used as an indicator of individuality in different cultures. This is something that has happened since the beginning of tattoos, and we are still seeing it nowadays”.
If the tattoo of “Modern Kali” had been posed on a different body, with a different name, a different life story, in a different cultural setting, and in a different historical time, would it still have the same meaning? The answer is, probably not. The meaning of tattoos does not only rely on the technique of the tattoo artist or the visual content of the tattoo, but on context as well.