A British man could be one of the most heavily tattooed people in the world after covering his entire body – as well as impregnating his eyeballs – with jet black ink.
27-year-old Eli Ink, is a tattoo artist from Brighton, who’s said he views his body as a canvas which allows him to exhibit his finest work on.
Over a ten year period – and I dread to think how many sittings – Eli has tattooed almost every millimetre of his skin in layers of black ink – he’s even put ink into his eyeballs. Just why?
As well as his body art, the 27-year-old has had huge stretchers implanted into his nose and lower lip in order to stretch them into unusual shapes – all of which is just a part of his body modification process.
Despite having a unique look, Eli said his tattoos and modifications are both seriously planned and sporadic – as he puts it, a reflection of his own personality.
You probably wouldn’t guess his inspiration – not Marilyn Mason or anyone else with an individual look, shall we say – but rather, world renowned artist, Pablo Picasso.
Eli revealed, now his whole body is covered in black ink, he can add designs to the ‘dark canvas’ as he comes ever closer to reflecting a surrealist figure from a Picasso painting.
Whatever floats your boat Eli!
Now I like to think of myself a being very open minded so I’m all for Eli doing what he wants, but there are some, well a lot, who feel his look is a bit extreme!
Yet despite this, Eli insists he’s still a hit with the ladies – he’s currently in a relationship with girlfriend Holly, who’s another body-modification enthusiast.
Eli says he doesn’t expect others to understand his extreme look and his transformation is only for him to appreciate, telling the MailOnline:
In my opinion, the only person who will ever understand my transition properly is me. I don’t attempt to describe it to anyone.
I’ve always been blown away by art itself. Picasso is a huge childhood inspiration to me, especially abstract art, but I do like all forms of art. Body art was just the next local step for me growing up.
I wanted to look like an abstract character in one of Picasso’s paintings. I love the abstract look, no thought , just pure expression.
The part which I was most intrigued about – which is what I’m sure most of you are interested in – is the bit about Eli putting ink into his eyeballs.
All this, for Eli, is part of achieving the ‘perfect aesthetic’, despite it being a high-risk procedure – it involves carefully injecting ink between two layers of the eye.
Yet despite the risks of injecting ink into his eyes, Eli says body modification is a risk-taker’s lifestyle and one he’s embraced.
Eli belongs to a sub-culture within body modification called Modern Primitives which reference primitive cultures through body modifications.
The 27-year-old is currently studying ear lobe reconstruction, as well as ear pointing and scarification and said:
I will never be finished. It will take me the rest of my life to finish my studies but I am dedicating the rest of my life to body modification and perfecting my work.
As I said, each to their own – as long as Eli is happy and healthy, who cares what he does to his own body!
