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The theme of "Tattooed David"
is that of Yin Yang - the ancient oriental symbol for all opposites in
the universe. Two halves creating a whole: positive and negative,
dark and light, male and female, active and passive, good and evil, happiness
and sadness, heaven and earth, east and west, etc. etc.
The most obvious Yin Yang
we see with this "David" is the West meets East concept...the Western man
with Eastern tattoos. The graphic Yin Yang symbol is judiciously
placed over the heart. The artist divided the figure into "Heaven
and Earth", the upper and lower body respectively. Symbols of earth
on the legs, represented by the sky, the sea, and the Geisha on the shore,
all lead down to David's feet planted firmly on the earth. The ascent
to heaven is shown on the opposite leg, where we find a warrior monkey
with sword guarding the Torii gate to heaven. A red sunset represents
death, turning into flames which represent transition. In the "heaven"
half of the body we have a Yin Yang struggle occurring with the attacking
eagle attempting to steal the pearl of wisdom, fiercely guarded by the
mythological monkey god. The tiger and the dragon join the battle
against the eagle. On David's right arm are symbols of the Garden
of Eden in Paradise, countered by the snake on the left arm representing
Purgatory. |