Sophie de Oliveira Barata on The Alternative Limb Project and the Nexus between Art and Medicine — Colossal
Art Colossal Design Science
#disability #Sophie de Oliveira Barata
June 23, 2023
Grace Ebert
Model Kelly Knox wears « Synchronized ». Photos by Omkaar Kotedia, all images © The Alternative Limb Project, shared with permission
For more than a decade, Sophie de Oliveira Barata has been at the helm of The Alternative Limb Project, a Lewes-based practice making custom prostheses for people with amputated or missing appendages. The designs range from eerily realistic to fantastical, fairy-tale creations that fall at the intersection of art and medicine, a unique meeting point she talks about in a new interview with Colossal.
Some people have the idea that it will be exactly the same all the time, and your body is a living organism, which is impossible to replicate. In some ways, it’s easier to choose an alternative because you don’t have to match something that’s constantly changing.
In this conversation, de Oliveira Barata talks about the young girl who helped inspire the project, how cultural conceptions of physical disability have evolved, and the imaginative and empowering possibilities of alternative arts.
Read the interview.
“Anatomical leg”
#disability #Sophie de Oliveira Barata
