Taboo Tattoos

March 2007

A performance art collaboration between my oldest son, Abe Nelson, in Portland, Oregon; and me in Chicago. We gave each other tattoos, neither knowing ahead of time what the other was going to tattoo. My son already is a tattoo artist (and painter), but I had never given or gotten a tattoo before. Abe showed me right before I gave him his tattoo, how to use the gun, then I was pretty much on my own.

Abe tattooed onto the outside of my right upper arm a 5″x4″ self-portrait of himself when he was about a year old, blowing a kiss. The tattoo is a realistic drawing style with shading, mostly black, except for blue eyes. It was taken from an old photograph, which we’ve argued over for years because he has it and I wanted it. Now I have it!

I tattooed the inside of Abe’s right leg, just above the ankle, with my signature underlined, and the words: First Edition ©1974, all black ink.

And no, it didn’t hurt that much, though I cried for other reasons.

nest, beverly