Reach for the Sky

Inspired by a return to college after a 20-year hiatus, tattoo artist Matthew Amey's "Jump Off" series encapsulates the artist's personal meditations on the transience of youth and the uncertainty of adulthood.

He explores the implications of these reflective thoughts and feelings with a depiction of the nostalgic sentiment of freedom coupled with stark, gestural strokes and symbolic details. In the enthralling design, a child is suspended mid-swing while birds hover around the tree's branches. The tree represents stability, safety, comfort, excitement, and the all-encompassing love of family, while the birds represent the opportunities and challenges the child will encounter as she reaches life's crossroads.

With its strikingly straightforward duality, the piece juxtaposes a child's carefree nature with an adult's projection of the future, using a personal and universal childhood experience as an opportunity for deep expression. Limited edition of 200 sequentially numbered prints made with oil-based inks on Somerset textured paper. Contemporary black frame. Made in Newark, Delaware and hand signed.

See the other pieces in the Jump Off series here.

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