Still a work in progress, Duane Ford’s tattoo pays homage to his favorite author, the late David Foster Wallace.

During his senior year of high school, the junior political science major read Wallace’s speech “This Is Water.” Though he initially appreciated the speech, realizing its striking construction and rhetorical value, it wasn’t until college that his fascination with the author blossomed.

“After I graduated, I got really into it. I read it again, and it really resonated with me,” Ford explained.

He got the first portion of the tattoo on the right side of his chest at Extreme Graphix Tattoo Shop in Rochester, N.Y. It reads “This Is Water.”

The font, a deliberate decision, flows airily and gracefully with the words placed atop on another.

“There’s a feeling that this kind of script gives me. When I see it, it doesn’t seem like just words,” Ford said.

The second time he went to the parlor, he emerged with a black koi fish. He plans to fill it in, deepening the shading and body color of the koi while still maintaining the intricate shape and movement of the scales.

The fish swims symbolically upstream, upholding a characteristic that Ford deeply values.

“It’s working towards something,” he said. “It’s going upstream against the grain.”

In Wallace’s speech, he describes two fish in his opening anecdote; thus, Ford plans to get another fish alongside the first to complete the piece.

Being a Pisces, he will arrange them in the manner of the astrological symbol.

After having spent a few sessions in the tattoo parlor, Ford understands the increasing popularity of tattoo culture as indicative of striking social change.

Said Ford: “It shows that you don’t have to be this robot suit-and-tie, going in and out of work every day. You can have some individuality, and that’s becoming more accepted.”

Published on March 18, 2014 at 12:23 am