Each of my portrait paintings contain symbols that represent important stories from the subjects’ life. Let's talk about the hidden symbols and stories in the portrait Inked Einstein.
Albert can be seen with a heart tattoo with a knife through it that reads "Mileva." This is the name of his first wife, who was a genius mathematician. She was the only woman among Einstein's classmates At Zürich Polytechnic. It was not common for women to attend university, and even more rare to study science or mathematics.
Einstein was attracted to her brilliant mind and ability to keep stride with him academically. He called her his "Dear Dollie" and they had the nerdy hots for each other. After three children and 8 years together, the bloom had fallen off the rose and Alberts eye began to wander.
One of his love affairs was with his first cousin, Elsa, who became his second wife and apparently more accepting of his desire to “experiment” with other women.
His eye among the stars tattoo represents Albert’s “thought experiments”. Einstein was known to sit in a dark room and visualize things in his mind’s eye as a way to work through these theories. In many societies, the eye represents intuition, some believe incredible knowledge like Einstein’s theories comes to us through our connection to the great beyond through our minds. Albert once said, “I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right, though I do not know that I am.”
A serotonin molecule can be found tattooed on his arm. This molecule represents Albert's happiness. He believed in doing things that makes one happy.
Einstein was a pacifist, which is why a peace sign can be found tatted on his arm. He was very vocal about his distaste for violence and war. He once said, "my pacifism is an instinctive feeling, a feeling that possesses me because the murder of men is disgusting. My attitude is not derived from any intellectual theory but is based on my deepest antipathy to every kind of cruelty and hatred."
The lightbulb tattooed on his arm is a symbol of two things; his bright ideas, and the year he was born. The light bulb was first patented by Thomas Edison the year Albert was born in 1879.
The nerd tattoo shows how the word had gone from an insult to a brand. While painting this piece I thought about how that word was something people would say about themselves. I don’t think the meaning of word has changed much, but the way society feels about nerds, intellects, inventors, quirky or neurodivergent individuals is really cool.
These are just some of the symbols and stories in my painting of Albert. To view more about the piece and Al's tattoos, find Inked Einstein under the "Symbols and Stories" tab on our website.