Prosthetics and Poise: Viktoria Modesta

photo by Lucasz Suchorab

Viktoria Modesta is a singer, model, and amputee who uses a range of custom-made prosthetics as a way of self-expression. She was featured as a model for the Alternate Limb Project, an endeavour to combine the beauty of wearable art with the functionality of prosthetic limbs. This project resulted in a series of stunning arms and legs, ranging from a leg made of floral porcelain to an arm with a sculpted snake wrapping around it.

photos from the Alternate Limb Project

Modesta’s dance video, Prototype, features a black prosthetic leg shaped like a spike. Her posture and the balance with which she carried herself while wearing the spike served as inspiration for the pointed legs of the scavengers. Since, unlike traditional prosthetics, the spike does not feature a foot, Modesta, and, similarly, the scavengers, have to adapt their posture. Since the bottom of the limb does not bend the way an ankle would, the way they hold themselves when they move and stand differs from the way the body would naturally hold itself.

still from Prototype

Taking this into account while drawing relies both on a firm grasp of anatomy, and on adjusting the expectation of how the body is supposed to move to suit the change.