Sasha’s family is to be found in many places. She wrote:⁠
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“I come from a big Ashkenazi family. As it happened with a lot of Jewish families, mine is scattered around the world. I have relatives in the UK, US, Russia, Armenia, Latvia, Poland, Israel, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and probably some other nice places. I myself have lived all my life moving between several countries. All this made me think about a dandelion seed head. When the dandelion withers, the seeds are taken by the wind and travel far away to become new dandelions. They never return to their mother plant, however, they carry their history to new places. I think it's the perfect metaphor for Jewish communities all around the world. So, my idea for the tattoo is the Yiddish word for "dandelion" - לופטל - calligraphed to look like a flying dandelion seed. Fun fact! The word לופטל itself has the same root as the Yiddish word ‘luft’, which means "air" and is used in words like ‘airy’ or ‘floaty’.”⁠
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David asked: “What drives you to emphasize the aspect of your family being scattered around the world? Is this an establishing experience for you, having a scattered family?”⁠
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Sasha said: “I've actually thought about the tattoo a little bit more and I don't think it necessarily should look like a dandelion. Maybe it would be even better if it doesn't look like one to give the tattoo a secret meaning.⁠
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“Onto your question. I've indeed felt that my loved ones are scattered throughout the world. This somewhat reminded me of seeds that grew on the same plant but were taken by the winds.”⁠
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I liked the fact that Sasha came with a visual idea that was entirely new to me. Entirely new, but at the same time entirely coherent. ⁠
I did suggest one thing in order to make it abstract but not lose the idea of a single dandelion seed, which was to make it larger. That way, except for a representation of a seed, we would have a symbol for how as Jews, we may go to opposite ends of the world, but we will inevitably meet other Jews, get in touch with other Jews and hence get in touch with our own past and identity. ⁠