Keeping Your Loved Ones Close

When you lose a loved one, it is common to keep something belonging to them so you can feel that you have a part of them forever.

But this has been taken to a whole new level in a craze which takes the cremated remains from loved ones and mixes it with tattoo ink and then the ink is used by the artist to create a piece of art that pays tribute to the deceased.

This process has been going on for at least 30 years but only caught on recently. These tattoos are called commemorative or ritual tattoos. Using cremation ashes, known as “cremains”, is occurring more and more often. Individuals are getting their loved one’s ashes injected into their tattoo work.

It’s more of a symbolic gesture in my opinion. The amount of remains used in the process is microscopic and has to be sterilized to allow it to be safe to be injected into your skin with the ink.