Though she never really considered getting inked, Liza Posner, a junior advertising major, had a vision for a tattoo that she had to make a reality.

As the idea grew more prominent in her mind, she eventually gave in. Last Tuesday, she headed over to Lucky’s Tattoo and Piercing in Massachusetts and got a red “X” in between two blue waves on her upper back. The piece is so recent that she’s still applying her moisturizing ointment three times daily.

The “X” represents a variable, or an unknown, and its red coloring is reminiscent of a red “X” that “marks the spot.” Posner, adopted from Korea, said she doesn’t expect to find her biological parents, and therefore her placement in life is unknown.

“I am about 99.99 percent sure I will never be able to locate my real mom, and there is about a zero percent chance of me ever figuring out who my real dad was,” she said.

The waves move to the right, like a story unfolding and progressing indefinitely into the future. The placement is as significant as the image itself. Like her past, the tattoo will always be behind her. It will always be there as a part of her skin, and it serves as a reminder of how she has had to overcome the unknown.

“I think a lot of people take for granted knowing what their family history is and what they are,” Posner said. “That’s something I really cherish and find interesting because it’s not something that I’ll ever know about myself.”

She said the tattoo was also inspired by the last line in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby:” “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

The piece also has a simplistic movement: It has clean lines and primary colors, and it is perfectly symmetrical.

“It’s a simple idea, so it just doesn’t need a lot of detail,” Posner explained.

Posner used to think tattoos held a stigma. But when she came to college, the diverse students she came in contact with opened her eyes to different realms of culture.

She now sometimes finds herself looking at the tattoo world with a critical eye, wondering about the significance of people’s tattoos and looking at different artists’ portfolios.

Said Posner: “I’m not going to let the mystery of my roots hold me back from being driven. Sometimes I can’t believe it, where I am today. My tattoo is a complete embodiment of all that pushes me forward in this journey of life. Like an ‘X’ amongst the waves.”

Published on December 3, 2013 at 12:53 am

Contact Naomi: ncfalk@syr.edu