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| Fresh start: Britain's most tattooed man - Matthew Whelan - has spent £6,000 getting some older ones removed because he wants to start again |
Britain's most tattooed man - who has changed his name to The King of Inkland - has spent £6,000 getting some removed because he has run out of space on his skin and wants to 'start again'.
Matthew Whelan, from Birmingham, has covered his whole body with ink, including an eyeball, but now believes he looks out of date.
The 34-year-old has set aside £6,000 for the painful process of laser removal because he sees himself as a 'living canvas' and human 'art gallery' that needs to evolve.
Mr Whelen, who has also changed his name by deed poll to King Body Art The Extreme Ink-ite, has spent £30,000 on tattoos and had his first at 16 - a British Bulldog.
But he has now decided that after almost two decades he needs to refresh his collection.
'I think of myself like an art gallery. After a while the art gets old and people want to see something new and that's how I feel about my tattoos,' he said.
'I've had enough of them and I've run out of skin to tattoo on - so I thought why not get them lasered off and just start again'.
Mr Whelan has spent £6,000 getting £500 worth of tattoos removed on his hand, arm and shin but he still has £30,000 worth of tattoos on the rest of his body.
Over the past two months he has undergone six sessions to have old tattoos removed- a procedure which is painful and lengthy.
He said: 'I can finally see the skin underneath and the laser process is a gruelling one. My skin is currently blistered- but that's good because it means it is healing.'
The King of Inkland has now started planning his next set of tattoos which he is anxious to get in place of the ones he has removed.
'Some of my friends think I'm bonkers, and it might seem odd to some people but to me I am a living canvas,' he said.
'I can't wait for the day to put new artwork in their place. It would be tomorrow if I had my way however I have to wait until the treatment to see when it completely heals.'
Mr Whelan says body modification is a culture, a way of life and almost a religion.
But he also is a political animal, having regularlary volunteered at the office of Liberal Democrat MP John Hemmings in Yardley, in Birmingham. He is also a former wrestler.
He says he has wanted tattoos since the age of nine after seeing his father's and his uncle's.
Snakes, scorpions, eyeballs and vampires are among the illustrations he has chosen has one of his eyeballs tattooed black.
'When I die I want to leave my body to a museum or a member of my family,' he last year.
'There's someone in Canada who has already asked if he can have my skull to use as a paint pot.'
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