Would You Hang A Dead Loved One's Tattoo On The Wall As Art?

A viral TikTok video about the possibility of preserving a dead loved one's tattoos as artwork has the comment section sharing mixed emotions.

The video shared by Inked Magazine has received more than 3.4 million views and thousands of comments discussing the unique idea.

In an informational video on TikTok, Inked Magazine shares how your loved one's tattoos can be preserved by Save My Ink Forever so you can hang them on the wall as artwork after they have passed.

"Your tattoos can now outlive you. An Ohio company, Save My Ink Forever, extracts people's tattoos after they've passed and preserves them into framed artwork," the video explained. "When they receive a request to preserve a tattoo, they send a package of materials to the funeral home for the tattoos to be removed."

Morticians are directed on the process to properly remove the tattoo via an instructional video. Only a certain amount of skin should be extracted so the process is very specific. The cost can be quite high for the entire process.

"The skin is then shipped off to Ohio for the team to clean and then sewn on to a canvas and framed using museum grade UV blocking gloss," she continued. "The cost ranges from about $1,700 for a small tattoo to over $120,000 to preserve a full body suit."

The video continues to explain that while the idea may sound "morbid" to some, it gives a "unique memory" of a loved one that can live on forever.

Thousands of people hopped into the comments to share their thoughts on this interesting way to keep a loved one's memory alive and well.

"This seems the same as putting an animal trophy on the wall!" one person wrote. Another added, "Japan had been doing this for years."

And then there were jokes, and plenty of them.

"Get a full back piece and then you got a sick new throw rug," one person joked. "Who knew 'Silence of the Lambs' was a 'How to' video," wrote another.

One viewer knew someone who did this, and shared, "A guy who owned a tattoo shop in my city had this done to his skin. I believe it was his one request for after his passing."

Popular TikTok creator Lauren the Mortician chimed in on Inked Magazine's video talking about framing dead loved one's tattoos as artwork. Lauren is often summoned by her millions of followers when they feel she will have something important to add when talking about death and dying, and she's always happy to give her take.

"I don't see this taking off. I don't see this really going far," she began her take on the tattoo preserving trend. "I think it's a great idea if somebody really, really, really wanted that, but it's just, I've seen too many horror documentaries, true crime sh**. It's giving, I mean, could you imagine going over to somebody's house and like oh, there's my grandma's tattoo on the wall?"

She also brought up the fact that when everyone dies in the family and someone cleans out the house and sees the framed artwork of skin, it could end up in the thrift shop. She then offered another idea for anyone who feels saving skin is a bit over the top.

"What I have done is I have taken pictures of people's tattoos and given it to the family," she continued. "You can frame that, cost a couple bucks to get it developed."

She went on to say that to get somebody's tattoo off their body, what's sent to funeral homes is essentially a "cheese grater."

"That's how we peel the skin off," she said. "That's how they do it for body donations, too, if you're a candidate for skin donation."

Lauren's followers also had some fun in the comment section. Inked Magazine jumped in to say, "It's vintage 😅😂."

"Ok hear me out a book with all the family secrets.... and it's 'leather bounded,'" one person joked. Another added, "This is what my kids are getting as their inheritance."

One follower wanted to know, "So funeral directors can do that not just the autopsy person? 🤔" to which Lauren responded, "Autopsy person will not do this for a family. A funeral director will have to. And they might have families sign a waiver. Release of liability."

Would you want someone's tattoo so badly that you would pay to have it removed and framed? What are your thoughts on this trend - morbid or an awesome way to keep someone's memory around in a unique way?