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Chris Wenzel’s tattoos made his skin a walking tapestry of art designed and created by himself and his friends. Now that art rests in four glass frames — a physical preservation of who he was.

When Chris passed away in November of 2018, his wife Cheryl Wenzel knew one of his wishes was for his tattooed skin to be preserved after his death. In April of 2019, Chris’ tattoos made their return to Saskatoon.

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“It was like a present to me,” Cheryl said. “A new gift, of having my husband back with me.”

Chris was the owner of Electric Underground Tattoos in Saskatoon, and had tattoos covering most of his body. After Chris’ sudden passing in November, Cheryl reached out to Save My Ink Forever, an Ohio-based company that specializes in the removal and preservation of tattoos from the deceased.

Kyle Sherwood with Save My Ink said normally they can provide instructions to someone local to excise the tattoos — but because of how much of Chris’ skin they wanted to save, Sherwood flew to Saskatoon himself to handle the process.