Ryan's Tattoos Represent the Duality of Human Existence

A couple weeks back on Broad Street, I ran into Ryan, who had two tattoos on either side of his calf.

I first noticed the back of the leg, which featured this image:

In explaining the tattoos he designed, Ryan, a chef, specified that "the mosquito represents the parasitic nature of man’s ego." He elaborated, "yup, sucking on, y’know the host, the earth."

Then there's this design on the front of the calf:

Ryan told me, "...on the front, a lotus flower, coming out of the earth with the sun rising, the hopeful sun rising future, the lotus flower representing the man’s spiritual potential." He added that "the front and back are the dualities of what we fight with."

He also shared this piece on his arm, noting that the kanji on the wrist was done first, and the rest of the tattoo was built around it:

Ryan explained:

"This was inspired by my favorite author’s book, JosephCampbell’s A Hero with a Thousand Faces and …it [the kanji] just says hero and then the reflection of it in the water, the faceless monk… it’s a representation of that book."

Ryan couldn't remember the exact name of the shop or the artist, so the work will have to remain uncredited, for the moment.

UPDATE: Ryan confirmed that the work was done by Joy at Twelve 28 Tattoo in New York City.

Thanks to Ryan for sharing his cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

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