Symbolizing my experiences - the tryptych
I’ve always been fascinated by the beauty of symbols and also how they convey meaning.
And when I saw the Penrose triangle for the first time I knew instantly that it would be a symbol I wanted to carry with me. So in June 2015, after nearly a year of consideration, I decided to get a tattoo to make that dream a reality. But, taking cues from a logo I’d seen, I expanded upon the original shape by doubling the triangle into a geometrically impossible infinity symbol. Penrose had described the triangle as “impossibility in its purest form” and I found that juxtaposing impossibility with infinity really resonated with me, as though we’re always attempting the impossible.
I had recently changed jobs and was working harder than ever to help my company make a dent in the universe, and this was exactly the way to describe what I was doing. Thanks to Jeff Gleason, who expertly recreated the image on a tattoo stencil in black and white with a subtle gradient, my first tattoo came to be.
They say that once you’ve gotten your first tattoo, you’ll continue to want more, and the same was true for me. Only a year later, I started to get inspiration for my next tattoo. I was reading a novel that mentioned the art of the enso, a hand-drawn single brushstroke in the shape of a circle. Like the first, I was instantly drawn to the beauty of the symbol on its own. And like the first, the meaning also spoke to me — this concept of wabi-sabi or “perfection in imperfection”. I needed some way to balance that obsession with work and my perfectionist mindset.
Finding satisfaction in simplicity and asymmetry and allowing myself to be flexible was exactly what I was looking for. This natural, organic symbol would starkly contrast and yet also perfectly offset the clean cut penrose infinity. Jeff Gleason worked some more magic to simulate a brushstroke with the needle, and in July 2017 I had my second tattoo.
After the enso, I wasn’t sure there would be another. I had found two incredible symbols when I thought lightning couldn’t strike twice, and I had found unique meaning in each one that brought balance to my life as a set. But after seeing a new shape during a trip to another city, I became convinced that adding a glyph would be next on the list.
It was the modern symbol of the transcend glyph that I was captivated by — a minimal triangle with an offset bar. Its meaning interlaced with my reality; what I needed more than anything was to separate myself from the noise. So the idea of “accepting the world as it is, and rising above it” made perfect sense — it pulled together the two tattoos and contributed something new. And in March 2019, with Jeff Gleason’s steady hand, my third tattoo came into being.
Having completed my initial tattoo series in late 2019, I was eager to find a way to showcase the art as a more permanent fixture of my home. I knew the broad strokes of what I wanted to display — a vertically oriented, three piece minimal black and white rendition of each tattoo that could be displayed at high resolution. Below each tattoo, I wanted to represent the phrase that best captured the meaning of the symbol. And I wanted to ensure that even though the symbols represented art from vastly different origins across time and geography, the triptych artistry would unify the set.
But, to go from concept to reality, I decided to try a 99Designs contest. With just a design brief to go on, I got even more than I could have ever asked for with a number of incredible designs from several amazing artists. But ultimately, it was the work of Gloria Sanchez who really stood out — perfectly encapsulating everything I was going for while bringing so much more to the final work.
As the final step, I had each image printed directly on large 40x20 aluminum dibond slabs thanks to the fine folks at WhiteWall, which helped provide an edgeless quality and bring out the blacks and whites clearly. The result is a lasting tribute that uniquely captures the power of my body art.
Penrose Infinity (right): “Impossibility in its purest form”
Enso (left): “Perfection in Imperfection”
Transcend glyph (center): “Accept the world as it is, and rise above it”
Even as the third tattoo was still being inked, I knew that I needed to unify them. But I also knew it would be a nearly impossible endeavor. I looked for someone to take three distinct tattoos and combine them into a single masterwork that highlighted the nuance of each piece while pulling them together to convey a unified vision. Instead of providing the answer like for each tattoo before, I offered the problem, and sought out an artist to find a solution. And, across three different sessions, Matt Matik made it happen.
It’s been a five year collaboration across seven distinct art pieces, two different artists and nearly thirty hours of work, but I’m excited to share the final tattoo masterpiece. Incredibly thankful to Jeff Gleason for making my three tattoo concepts a reality over four years as the symbols and meaning collided with my journey through life. Each time I came to him with a new idea, he patiently listened and then took broad concepts and reference images and made them into the stencils that would pattern my back. And then a huge thank you to Matt Matik for answering the call when I searched for an artist to make my concept a reality. Most artists would shy away from a canvas they didn’t start, but Matt saw this as a challenge and an opportunity. It was an impossible ask and yet he delivered with something truly unique and incredibly powerful.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with incredible artists to create something that is so meaningful to me and to have a truly lifechanging experience.
