Artist’s preserved legacy displayed at Saskatoon Tattoo Expo

There was one booth at the Saskatoon Tattoo Expo getting a little more attention than the rest this weekend.

On display at the far end of Hall E at Prarieland Park was a literal body of work in four separate glass frames — a preservation of one of Saskatoon’s most beloved tattoo artists.

When Chris Wenzel, former owner of Electric Underground Tattoos died in November of 2018, he had an unusual wish for his wife Cheryl. He wanted tattoos covering more than half of his body to be preserved so the art could live long into the future.

“He was like, ‘You can do this, you always make everything happen,'” Cheryl said of her husband’s wishes after jolting awake one morning. “‘I know you can do this.'”

Before his death, Chris researched and sought out the help of Save My Ink, an Ohio-based business that specializes in tattoo preservation for the deceased. The only problem with the Wenzel’s request is that the company had never preserved ink on such a scale before.

After in-person and over the phone meetings, Wenzel’s ink was preserved over the course of four months and landed in Saskatoon just in time for the Saskatoon Tattoo Expo.

“He would be laughing,” Cheryl said, speculating her husband’s thoughts of the process. “He’d be like, ‘Yeah, right on! You’re doing a great job'”.

Hundreds of people stopped by the display to pay their respects or share a story. Cheryl plans to display Wenzel’s ink at another tattoo expo in Vancouver before taking up a permanent residence in a gallery or a museum.

“Whenever you love somebody and they want something, you do anything it takes to honour their wishes,” Cheryl said.