Hardy states: “From a very popular WWI tattoo design, The Rose of No Man’s Land. Here the curtains (field hospital tent?) part to show a composite goddess. Her face is blue like the Hindu Kali, creator and destroyer. The calligraphy in upper right is the siddam, script for Kannon, the Japanese goddess of mercy. Her sanskrit mantra Hail! Jewel in the Lotus is on the ribbon below accompanied by five kisses. This mantra signifies the greater consciousness incipient in every being, ready to be nourished. The flower emerges through a tattoo-like cut in the skin”. Tied to her are votive figures made of her same essential thorns. They have buried the hatchet, the war is over. The sky is a mass of whirlwinds drawn in traditional Japanese tattoo style. A golden Jacob’s ladder reaches down from heaven.”
“Nurse Mercy”
