Travis Barker’s tattoo tapestry is ‘statement of uniqueness from the Kardashians… and their excessive plastic surgery’
TRAVIS Barker's tattoo journey exposes how he wants to distance himself from his wife's looks-obsessed family, according to a psychologist.
But the doctor suggested that the drummer's latest inking on his head means he is running out of space for future "power statement" designs.
Travis, 48, has shown off various tattoos on social media since New Year's.
After the 2023 birth of his baby, Rocky, the drummer posted a photo of a new body art on his head on Instagram.
The image showed a cherub or angel holding a cross.
, said the location of the tattoo was due to a lack of “real estate” on the rock star's body.
The design is also next to a tattoo of the head of the Statue of Liberty.
“Travis is not unique in having tattoos from head to toe," Klapow of told The U.S. Sun.
"Tattoo art is an aesthetic, and here is a portfolio of artwork on his body.
"Travis sees his tattoos as his tapestry of creative expression.
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"He expresses different things at different times in his life and emotional states, much like an artist would.
"The tattoo on his head after the birth of his baby was placed there because there is less real estate available."
Klapow claimed Kourtney Kardashian's husband's tats differed from body alteration using plastic surgery.
Travis does not do body augmentation and has not changed his physical structure.
Dr. Joshua Klapow
"The difference between Travis getting tattoos and doing something to the body to make a different look is a different category to the Kardashians getting cosmetic surgery," he said.
"Multiple tattoos are not the same as cosmetic enhancements, like lip or breast augmentation.
"Societal norms drive those.
"Travis does not do body augmentation and has not changed his physical structure.
"He can have infinite kinds of tattoos, but the Kardashians can not have infinite kinds of breast or lip augmentations."
On January 4, the father of three showed off his knuckle tattoos on Instagram.
He placed his clenched fists close to the camera, flaunting a tattoo that reads, "Self Made."
Travis and Kourtney married in May 2022. It has been reported that they have been at odds with her family.
In mid-December, The U.S. Sun revealed Kourtney has deliberately cut herself off from her family since giving birth.
An insider said: "When her family asks about when she'll be back to work she tells them she won't be rushed and to back off.
"She's basically cut herself off from everyone at this stage."
Klapow suggested Travis's tattoo message may have been about him being self-made versus the Kardashians.
";One can argue that the Kardashians are also self-made," he said.
"We can also say this is Travis making a statement about himself.
"His relationship with the Kardashians could influence this.
"The fact that the tattoo is on the knuckles — your hands and your fists — is your source of power.
"Travis expresses in those tattoos on his knuckles that this is a power statement.
"That kind of statement is consistent with the body part."
Travis was previously married to Shanna Moakler, 48. They share two children, Alabama, 17, and Landon, 20.
Kourtney shares Mason, 13, Penelope, 11, and Reign, 8, with her ex Scott Disick, 40.
Klapow claimed Travis is different from the type of partners Kourtney and her sisters have had.
"The Kardashians have dated and married a wide range of people with a wide range of backgrounds, from professional basketball players to musicians" he said.
"Travis is a unique individual.
His position in his world, musical profession, and talents have nothing to do with the Kardashians, so there is that desire to exert uniqueness.
"Travis will not be like a Kardashian, so you see people take this opposite place, and he leans into that more.
"Travis could tell Kourtney he loves her, but he is not like her family.
"Travis does not want to be like her family, which is healthy."
Through the years, tension between Kim and Kourtney has intensified.
More recently, it centered on Kim releasing a collection with Dolce & Gabbana.
It came almost a year after Kourtney and Travis' lavish Dolce & Gabbana-styled May wedding.
"I got married in Italy. Am I saying you copied me by getting married in Italy?" Kim said on their Hulu series.
"Who performed at my wedding? Andrea Bocelli. Who performed at Kourtney’s wedding? Andrea Bocelli."
Travis' expression is very different from the Kardashians.
Dr. Joshua Klapow
Travis had also been linked to Kim in the past.
In 2023, he told the , “That’s her sister. She knows we used to talk. Nothing bad was going on.”
Travis had met Kim when he was dating Paris Hilton.
At the time and in his memoir, Can I Say, he wrote, “I kept on secretly checking out Kim, telling Lil Chris, ‘I don’t care if she’s the closet girl, she’s f------ hot,’”
Klapow added, “We do not want to see married couples have animosity or a lot of animosity towards each other's families.
"It is much healthier for Travis to be Travis than to try to be a Kardashian.
"As long as it's done respectfully and not out of spite.
"The new tattoos are not done to separate.
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"They do show Travis's confidence and how he expresses himself. That expression is very different from the Kardashians.
"Travis is comfortable with being different from the Kardashians in that respect.”
