Man who had his hand almost cut in two for 'art' says it was quick and didn't hurt

• Marcelo "B-boy" De Souza Ribeiro has had his left hand surgically almost cut in half.
• The Brazilian told Insider the three procedures were "smooth, quick, and not painful."

A Brazilian man who had his hand surgically almost cut in half told Insider on Friday that the procedure was "smooth, quick, and not painful."

Marcelo "B-boy" De Souza Ribeiro, from Bocaiúva, Brazil, said he underwent three operations under anesthetic to get his left hand modified. The procedures lasted one hour each and were performed by a friend for free.

"I can now open the hand laterally and fold it in two parts," he told Insider, adding that he thinks of his body as an "art exhibition."

But Ribeiro is far from done and told Insider he is now "studying the possibility of removing the index finger from the right hand to give it a different look."

The Brazilian father-of-two got his first tattoo at the age of 15 years old, and said he has since spent around 40,000 reals ($7,600) on more than 1,500 tattoos and other body modifications.

He said his most painful procedure was modifying his ears, which are tattooed and shaped like elf ears. He also has tattoos on his lips, eyes, and tongue, and also has fanged metal teeth, multiple implants in his arm, and one implant in his forehead.

Ribeiro, who has more than 75,000 Instagram followers, is used to standing out in a crowd and said he gets often stopped by people who want to take pictures of him.

"They're not offended, but are just curious," he told Insider.

The Brazilian said he has not yet been approached by the Guinness Book of World Records. The person who currently holds the title for the world's most modified man is a 62-year-old German man called Rolf Buchholz.

Buchholz has at least 516 body modifications, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.