Some of the most meaningful art to Ashley Gross is on her body.
A fig, an interpretation of the “Creation of Adam” painting and a representation of a snake eating its own tail adorn her body in tattoo ink, all carrying reminders of her most fundamental beliefs.
After starting college at 16, Gross, now 30, was exposed to philosophy, classical art and literature at a pivotal and formative time. Concepts from those lessons have shaped how she thinks about life.
The fig tattoo, just above her elbow, was inspired by “The Bell Jar” by Silvia Plath. In the novel, Plath uses a fig tree to symbolize life’s seemingly impossible choices — if she chose one fig to eat, that would mean losing the chance to eat the rest of the figs. If she chose one life path, that would mean losing the chance to live other lives.
“I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose,” Plath writes. “I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
For Gross, who lives in Lincoln Square, the symbolism rang true.
“If you don’t choose something, you lose everything,” she says. “I really resonated with it.”
On her other arm, she has a tattooed twist on the “Creation of Adam” painting by Michaelangelo in which two hands are reaching toward each other but not touching. In Gross’ tattoo, one hand is a skeleton instead of flesh. The tattoo, she says, is a reminder to “make the most of the in between” and recognize that as humans, perfection is impossible.
“There’s a gap between the hands, which symbolizes the gap between the divine and the human and how you’re never going to reach perfection,” she says.
Just above the “Creation of Adam” hands, a snake is eating its own head. In different cultures, snakes have various symbolism attached, often relating to the shedding of their skin. For Gross, who works in social media, that represents continuous progression.
“They’re continuously growing and I think that’s a beautiful concept,” she says. “That’s how I like to think of myself — always growing and always evolving.”
But with growth and evolution should come an appreciation of the mundane, mediocre and routine, Gross says. That concept is represented in a tattoo of a coffee spoon, a reference to T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” which reads: “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.”
Her tattoos are tied to some deeply personal thoughts and emotions, but Gross hopes others can draw meaning from them as well. When people comment on her tattoos, “it opens a door to have a bigger conversation than maybe they were expecting.”
But others who don’t learn the inspiration behind the tattoos can appreciate them just the same.
“They also just look dope,” says Zaida Lozano, Gross’ tattoo artist who works at Lucky Kat Tat in West Town. “So, when they’re just cool by themselves, it feels like you need less of a reason.”
While most of her tattoos are tied to philosophy and literature, some are less deep. A depiction of the face of Lucifer has “no deeper meaning,” but Gross says she was drawn to the “fierceness behind his eyes.” Another tattoo shows Gross’ cats, Hootie and Goblin Girl, or Gigi for short.
Gross grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, attended college in North Carolina, and now works in Chicago. Each location influences the tattoos she chooses, and their meanings can shift and transform as she ages.
They serve as an “emotional thermometer” throughout different phases of life, she says. “It’s a fun check-in with yourself. Last time I read this, I felt this, this and this. How do I feel now?”
A Sun-Times series on the stories behind body art.