Designer Creates Cutting-Edge Prosthetic Limbs

While in college, designer Sophie de Oliveira Barata specialized in something most of us would find far from the traditional design areas - special effects prosthetics for film and TV. Today, besides realistic prosthetics, she also creates some cutting-edge design ones for her Alternative Limb Project. Collaborating with graphic, laser cutting, woodwork, plastics' and other artists, Sophie makes those prosthetics look like a true piece of art: every single design is unique and utilizes different materials, textures and colors to create a very intricate final result.

"Having an alternative limb is about claiming control and saying 'I'm an individual and this reflects who I am," says Sophie. There are testimonies from her thankful clients to prove how important it was to them, too. Viktoria Modesta Moskalova, a singer, songwriter and performing artist, says that three years after her leg amputation, she saw "an opportunity to regard the leg as a fashion item and an art project, which seemed rather fun and exciting." "The first time a wore a limb that was so obviously BIONIC, it gave me a total sense of uniqueness and feeling of mutant human in the best way possible," says Viktoria. Another example of how everything depends on your attitude!

Website: thealternativelimbproject.com