Grace Ebert of “This Is Colossal” speaks with Sophie de Oliveira Barata of The Alternative Limb Project, a Lewes-based studio that makes custom prosthetics for people with amputated or missing appendages.
About sixteen percent of the global population lives with a disability, and a portion of people in that group, approximately 57.7 million, are amputees with limb differences. Disability designates the world’s largest minority population, and as with any identity category, the experience is unique for each person, their backgrounds, lifestyles, and goals informing how they understand and inhabit their bodies.
Sophie de Oliveira Barata knows these variances well. For more than a decade, she’s been at the helm of The Alternative Limb Project, a Lewes-based studio that makes custom prosthetics for people with amputated or missing appendages. The designs range from uncannily realistic to fantastic, fairytale-like creations that fall at the intersection of art and medicine, a unique meeting point she discusses in a new interview.
In May 2023 via Zoom, I spoke with de Oliveira Barata about the young girl who helped inspire the project and the balance between form and function when designing medical aids. We also discuss how cultural conceptions of physical disability have evolved, the importance of inviting people in to conversations about differences, and the imaginative, empowering possibilities of alternative limbs.
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