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INKEDblog takes you beneath the skin of today's tattoo culture. Our mission is to celebrate tattooing as a modern art form which incorporates art, fashion, style, and pop culture. While paying homage and respect to the past, we look to present a contemporary take on the present and future of skin art.
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Monday Jan 30, 2006
Every BODY Has A Story - The Scarab
In ancient Egyptian religious iconography, the scarab (which is commonly known as the dung beetle) represents regeneration and rebirth. The scarab beetle makes its home in and feeds on the waste of other animals, thus perpetuating nature’s cycle.
During the Napoleonic wars, Egyptian artifacts became popular in Europe and The United Kingdom; this was as a result of Napoleon’s occupation of Egypt. Sadly, this occupation resulted in the destruction and defacement of many Egyptian artifacts and architectural monuments. Nonetheless, Napoleon’s forced exportation of all things Egyptian perpetuated the European fad of using Egyptian artifacts and iconography as a mode of home décor. Egyptian artifact and archaeology became a popular aesthetic in Europe and The United Kingdom throughout the nineteenth century.
Naturally, many artists and writers were enamored of the mystique that surrounded the Egyptian aesthetic. This was particularly true of the Decadent writers of the Fin de Siecle. In fact, author and playwright Oscar Wilde adopted the symbol of the scarab for himself; it became his own personal iconography. In many of his letters, Wilde references a lapis lazuli pinky-ring, carved in the image of scarab; it was the writer’s favorite piece of jewelry. Other Fin de Siecle writers such as Andre Gide and Lord Alfred Douglas also note Wilde’s fondness for his scarab ring in their own writings. Wilde’s choice of the scarab for his own personal symbolism is ironically apropos; that he had the uncanny ability to use other people’s verbal waste (the criticism and judgment of not only himself, but society as a whole) as fodder for his monumentally successful plays is certainly an example of artistic regeneration. However, the scarab symbol is also a poignantly appropriate icon for Wilde as he was constantly forced to resurrect his own image as a popular writer and socialite from its demise; Wilde was continually labeled as an iconoclastic ‘sodomite’ and summarily shunned by the self-righteous and morally hypocritical Victorian society.
My reason for adopting the scarab as a personal symbol, as represented by my tattoo, is a result of my admiration and respect for Oscar Wilde. Where the Victorians shunned Wilde for his iconoclasm, I embrace it. Of course, I am also a huge fan of his writing, particularly his social satire. Thus, by appropriating the Egyptian iconography of the scarab, I am honoring not only a universally important idea, the idea of regeneration and rebirth, but I am also honoring the spirit Oscar Wilde and that which he stood for as a writer and social commentator.
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