Prosthetics that 'speak from the soul'

it's kind of a japanese-inspired limb so we've got a dragon and then a lady in a kimono with little drawers I was working for a company making realistic-looking prosthetic limbs for amputees and there was a little girl that would attend the clinic and I make her realistic limb every year and she wanted something a little bit different though and started off with little images of pigs eating ice creams riding bicycles I could see from a rehabilitation point of view what an impact this had on her so I thought well this is really interesting making something alternative and having rather than a standard kind of replacement and exploring the space and then I thought well yeah we could make some really unusual pieces that kind of spoke from people soul as it were and and and people's imagination but turning them into kind of reality and works of Arts all these have been laser cuts little wooden pieces and there's also some secret compartments as well and realistic fingers so it's almost like just an accessory I thought it wouldn't be wonderful to actually work with someone who shared the vision of embracing their lemon in it in a different way and so when I found Victoria modesta who is a performing artist and a singer and we worked together and I made several covers for her one of which was used in the Paralympic closing ceremony I think it captured the spirit that visually of the Paralympics and and what it means to be kind of superhuman almost and so we had the shape of her leg and then just kind of chopped into it and took chunks out and just made it encrusted with crystals and rhinestones I get to the point where I'm kind of making an alternative limb and I think yeah this looks really good but it's it's nothing when it's unless it's being worn by the person that it was intended for and that is just incredible to see when functioning as a body part but perhaps someone would go for a realistic cut option because and they want to complete their body as maybe nature intended and it brings them a sense of body balance security I guess and most importantly control the silicon comes in two parts in clip clear and then you mix it up on the machine and with all these various skin tones and colors and this this all be scratched in so all the colour is in the material all these different skin tones have all been applied in thin layers and then scratched into the material some of them are really fun like that was one for a military guy and it was kind of combination of realist it had realistic elements and our alternative once it had realistic tones and I've been with him when he's worn it and it really kind of confuses people because they're saying like oh you're I can see that you're you've got your foot but what's going on with the rest how is that possible hang on that's not your foot is it I like making those kind of pieces because the conversation has changed from one of pity to one of amazement I think the alternative limbs kind of definitely open up a dialogue and it's a kind of unspoken dialogue which is look at this I'm giving you something to look if you want to come and speak to me about my prosthetic I'm clearly kind of happy for you two to talk about it and as I'm expressing myself and rather you know if you want to stare at something then I'll give you something good to stare at

Channel: BBC News

Views: 22,695

Rating: 4.8393574 out of 5

Keywords: amputee, amputated, bbc, news, bbc news, art, culture, interview, youtube, artificial limbs, limb, limbs, artificial, prosthetics, amputees, alternative, project, Viktoria Modesta, Jo-Jo Cranfield, Leg, accessories, Sophie de Oliveira Barata, Arm, Prosthesis (Medical Treatment)

Id: 7WLbJVqcM0Y

Length: 4min 28sec (268 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 05 2015