Alison Lapper

Alison Lapper MBE ( born April 7, 1965 in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire) is an English artist, who was born without arms. She is also a subject of the work Alison Lapper Pregnant, which was issued by the end of 2007 in Trafalgar Square.

Life and work

Alison Lapper has phocomelia and was born without arms and with shortened legs. Since her childhood she lived in homes and has been able to build little contact with their relatives. The mother looked at her child for the last time at the age of four months; Lapper later reconciled with her.

When she got adjusted prosthetic arms, she felt this is not as helpful, but as an attempt to make their appearance are less disturbing; she refused it and learned to live without artificial aids. At the age of 19 years Lapper left the home and moved to London, where she obtained a driver's license. Lapper studied at the University of Brighton in 1994 and earned a first class exam in the visual arts.

Lapper uses photography, computer graphics and painting in their works, which, as she puts it, ask questions about the physical normality and beauty. She paints with his mouth. Particularly influential won the sculpture Venus de Milo, the evidence on behalf Lapper about similarities between the idealized female image and Lappers body. She has participated in various British art exhibitions, for example at the Royal Festival Hall. She is a member of the Association of Mouth and Foot painting people artists. In May 2003, Lapper MBE was awarded for her work in the arts.

After her son Parys 1999, which came into the world without any physical infirmity birth, she developed an installation of photographs that show along with it.

Marc Quinn's sculpture

Lapper posed for the sculptor Marc Quinn sculpture Alison Lapper Pregnant and its. This was on 15 September 2005 situated on the fourth pillar of Trafalgar Square, which had stood empty for a time. The 15 -ton statue is made of Carrara marble and shows Lapper naked and heavily pregnant. The Plinthenkommision " Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group" Alison Lapper Pregnant replaced in 2007 by Thomas Schütte's Model for a Hotel 2007. The long time unused northwestern base is designed for changing objects.