Senior industrial design major Matthew Kast is no stranger to visiting tattoo shops. Boasting six pieces of art scattered about his body, Kast is a needle veteran but has chosen to ink his skin only with traditional-style tattoos.

“They aren’t too flashy, but are still powerful works of art and are an homage to old-school body art and their artists,” Kast said.

On his right forearm, Kast has four very different works of traditional tattooing. A black rose with an eye for his brother, a shark to represent his coastal roots and even a tattoo of a gypsy woman that holds a secret no one else knows. But above them all, spread across the width of his inner forearm, an unfinished owl soars with significant numbers cast below the wings.

Kast decided to get his first tattoo at Halo Tattoo on Marshall Street on his birthday in the fall of his freshman year. Kast’s parents, against tattoos, said that they would pull him out of school if he even got one tattoo. While most would heed their warning, Kast acted in rebellion and had artist Mike Tommyrot tattoo an owl on his arm.

The numbers 31 and 61 may seem arbitrary at first, but they mark an interesting tradition among men in the Kast family. Kast’s father was born in 1961, his grandfather in 1931 and his great grandfather in 1901. The 30-year spread was continued through Matthew, who was born in 1991. Kast chose the owl as the ultimate symbol to represent the wisdom and knowledge passed to him through his father and ultimately his grandfather.

“I wanted to make a grand dedication to them because everything I’ve come to learn about the world and how it works is based on them. They taught me everything I ever needed to know, and what better animal to represent wisdom and knowledge than the owl,” Kast said. “Sure my mom was pissed at first, but as soon as I explained the significance of the numbers in relation to my father and his father, she broke down in a fit of happiness and understanding.”

Since that day, Kast has gotten five more tattoos including an under-the-lip tattoo that reads “DCF” and a wrist band that always reminds him to “savor it,” but the rest he chooses to have covering the visible part of his right arm.

Said Kast: “I don’t mind having my tattoos showing. Why pay hundreds of dollars for custom works of permanent art only to hide them under clothing; I know one day I’ll have a sleeve anyway.”

Published on November 13, 2012 at 7:49 pm

Contact Ian: imfeiner@syr.edu