Human Marks: Tattooing in Contemporary Art
Joseloff Gallery
University of Hartford
West Hartford
Sept. 15, 2025
“Remember you must die.”
That’s what my tattoo, Memento Mori, means. I got it on my left arm on vacation as a reminder to myself that time is short, and if there’s something I want to do, I might as well go for it.
Tattooing is more than just cool sounding phrases though. It’s also an art form, one that uses the human body as its canvas. As one might expect, the artists who do this work are immensely talented in multiple forms of artwork, and their other creations were on display as part of the Human Marks: Tattooing in Contemporary Art exhibition at the University of Hartford’s Joseloff Gallery.
One of the most striking works on display is Devil on My Shoulder, by Drew Greene. The colors and contrast of the work is incredible in its own right. It took me several minutes to see the second face in the lower half of the artwork, a grinning demon with a forked tongue that may be the true face of the beautiful woman above.
The artwork becomes even more impressive to know that it was created through a process known as reduction relief, where the separate colors of the piece are printed from the same block at different stages. The lightest color of the design is printed first, then the block is “reduced” by carving to the areas which the artist wants to print the second color from, and so forth. One of the major drawbacks of this style is that mistakes cannot be undone, but that’s par for the course for a tattoo artist.
Of course, the artists on display are also talented tattoo artists as well. One wall of the exhibit was dedicated to tattoo concepts. One that stood out to me was the work of Ed Hardy, who’d gathered together a flash sheet of his nautically themed tattoos.His use of bright colors and the translucent nature of watercolors allows the bold inking of his images to come through, making his perky pirates and tall galleons pop off the paper.
His artwork couldn’t have come at a better time for me personally, as I’m considering what to get for my next tattoo. I’ve been considering getting a pirate-themed tattoo as a celebration of my growing obsession with the manga series One Piece, so Hardy’s flashy work has sparked several ideas.
Symbology is a critical part of art, and the abstract representation of our world gives us a chance to explore the regular and mundane from different perspectives. Ciara Havishya’s work Sunset in Blue turns the sun into a 22-karat gold square on a swirling background of watercolor and ink. Their work is inspired by both the Japanese paper-marbling art of suminagashi, as well as devotional painting practices from 17th century India.
All of these shapes have meaning though, and the upward facing triangle represents masculinity. It’s a fascinating way to represent worship of the sun, an experience that cuts across all cultures.
Despite the stereotypes of tattooed people being flighty or irresponsible, body art often carries deep personal meaning. It’s no surprise that for tattoo artists, their own art is suffused with history, knowledge and meaning for themselves too. The human body may be their main canvas, but by no means is it the only one.
NEXT
Human Marks: Tattooing in Contemporary Art runs through Dec. 13 at the Joseloff Gallery in Hartford.
Jamil goes to catch some of the last outdoor concerts of the season.
