WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. – A sought-after Minnesota tattoo artist whose work includes the macabre, Matthew R. Lampi, was indicted by a federal grand jury as part of a network that bought and sold human remains. Lamp, age 52, owns the Get to the Point tattoo studio in the north St. Paul suburb of White Bear Lake. In his online promotions, Lampi advertises “dome art” for clients to enjoy while he works on their personal body art. The domes include bone-like creations, although whether they are facsimiles or actual human body parts is impossible to determine from Lampi’s online photos. Whether he sold the domes was not stated in the indictment, which charged only that he trafficked in remains. The remains cited in the indictment, which came from a federal grand jury empaneled in Pennsylvania. The charges: Conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen human remains including brains, lungs and stillborn babies. The indictment dealt with remains that the grand jury concluded had originated at the Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas mortuary. Lampi’s White Bear Lake studio is in the Wildwood Shopping Center. The indictment lists Lampi’s home address as East Bethel, 30 miles away.
Glass dome art. Lampi’s artistry had come to include dome art. Three-dimensional pieces are displayed in a “cloche,” a French word to protect outdoor plants from frost.