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Archive of Meaning

References, processes and ideas that guide my tattoo work. It’s a space to give context and clarity to the style and the thinking behind the designs.

 

Spherical People and Fornasetti's muse

Plato called them the Spherical People.

The face of the opera singer Lina Cavalieri, Piero Fornasetti's muse.

Anselm Feuerbach, “Das Gastmahl” (2nd version, 1874). On the left, the drunk Alkibiades, standing in the centre, the host Agathon, on the right Socrates and Aristophanes.

 

This image is drawn from one of my favorite—and lesser-known—myths: Aristophanes’ tale in Plato’s The Symposium about how humans were once whole, spherical beings split by Zeus. It’s a timeless reflection on love and identity. But I have to give a nod to where the inspiration really started: it wasn’t originally my own idea to tattoo these spherical people. One of my long-time clients, Vale, who’s very dear to me and has done several tattoos with me before, came to me wanting a design based on this exact myth.

At first, I drew up a few different sketches for her, but she just didn’t quite feel they were right for her. Even though that design wasn’t a fit at the time, I loved the idea so much that I kept it in my portfolio. And then along came Joana, another wonderful client, who saw that drawing and felt it was perfect for her leg tattoo.

So really, it’s a bit of a tribute to Vale, who brought this beautiful myth into our conversation in the first place. Thanks to her, I got to merge that ancient story with the Fornasetti-inspired art and create something really special. It’s amazing how these ideas travel from one person to another and end up turning into art that carries a little bit of everyone’s story.

J

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