{"id":294656,"date":"2025-05-01T04:05:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T04:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/most-prosthetics-blend-in-her-fun-eyes-stand-out\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T04:05:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T04:05:09","slug":"most-prosthetics-blend-in-her-fun-eyes-stand-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/most-prosthetics-blend-in-her-fun-eyes-stand-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Most Prosthetics Blend In. Her \u2018Fun\u2019 Eyes Stand Out."},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/10\/multimedia\/00artofcraft-funeyes-06\/artofcraft-funeyes-jcft-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Most Prosthetics Blend In. Her \u2018Fun\u2019 Eyes Stand Out.\" title=\"Most Prosthetics Blend In. Her \u2018Fun\u2019 Eyes Stand Out.\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As a maker of prosthetic eyes, Christina Leitzel was told as an apprentice to treat her craft much as an expert art forger would: create a perfect match of one of nature\u2019s most intricate canvases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But just as there are many ways to lose an eye \u2014 to cancer or to a fall; to a broom that strikes the wrong part of the brow \u2014 Leitzel wants to show there are many ways to gain one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On a damp afternoon in Portland, Ore., a man in his 30s who had recently lost his eye to a BB gun stepped out of her office with a grin. His eyes matched his forest green beanie. But in his left, a shimmering gold vortex swirled within the pupil.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Leitzel, also known as \u201cChristina Oculara\u201d on <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@christina_oculara\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">TikTok<\/a> and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/centerforocularprosthetics\/?hl=en\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a>, creates what she calls \u201cfun eyes.\u201d Her designs include pupils painted in the shape of a sunflower and the<strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\"> <\/strong>diamond slit<strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\"> <\/strong>of<strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\"> <\/strong>a beloved cat. She has fulfilled requests as strange as they are touching: A man who arrived with a box of ashes, wishing for his late wife to \u201csee everything that he did.\u201d A woman adorned in piercings who thought, Why not a pierced iris, too?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That one, Leitzel said, turned out to be her favorite. The <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@christina_oculara\/video\/7293509587901287726\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">resulting TikTok<\/a> was so popular that eye doctors felt compelled to post warnings against piercing actual eyeballs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Social media has helped turn Leitzel\u2019s practice into a mecca for the one-eyed community. Perhaps, she suggests, blending in is often for the comfort of the fully sighted, rather than those who are not. Some prefer to have their difference visible \u2014 and start a conversation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI just want my patients to be happy,\u201d Leitzel said. \u201cAt the end of the day, they have to feel comfortable with themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It hasn\u2019t always been so straightforward. Her profession, ocularistry, requires at least five years of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/ocularist.org\/How-to-Become-an-Ocularist\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">training<\/a> in how to properly design, fabricate and maintain prosthetics. Leitzel hears from colleagues who worry that her \u201cfun\u201d eyes confuse medical devices with props or costumes. A few years ago, her professional association chastised her for one of her designs, which it said \u201clowered the esteem of the profession.\u201d (It involved a cartoon penis.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In case of any regrets, Leitzel requires new patients to first receive a standard prosthetic, which costs about $5,000 before insurance. Then, if they wish, she\u2019ll create a fun one for $500. She and Rachel Yee, a friend and patient, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.funeyefund.org\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">raise money<\/a> to cover the expense through a nonprofit called the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.funeyefund.org\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Fun Eye Fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Leitzel was unaware of ocularistry until a classmate at her Philadelphia art school popped out her eye and handed it to her. She was surprised that it was not a glass orb, like in the movies, and that it was immaculately hand-painted. The classmate sent Leitzel around the corner to her ocularist, who took her on as an apprentice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There, she learned the art of making eyes: How to cast a mold with an organic putty called alginate. How to create the illusion of dilation by carefully layering light and dark pigment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Strands of red thread embedded in the resin give the appearance of veins. To arrive at a true-to-life level of irritation in the eye, Leitzel asks questions: Had the patient slept well the night before? Any recreational substances? (\u201cIt\u2019s Portland, after all,\u201d she said.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She also listens to stories of accidents and operations. For some patients, she turns away the<strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\"> <\/strong>mirrors during fittings, knowing the sight of their raw socket is too much to bear.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In 2021, Leitzel met Yee, who had lost her eye to cancer as a toddler, for a fitting. Yee was 31 and had always wanted an eye with a pupil that was gold and glittering. But ocularists turned her down, telling her it wasn\u2019t what they did. Leitzel didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was the first time, Yee recalled, that she was happy with a new prosthetic. But she wore it only among friends at first, unsure if she could handle the attention. She kept wearing her realistic prosthetic instead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It wasn\u2019t until she later saw hateful comments on TikTok about her eye that she realized there was no point in hiding. \u201cIt\u2019s human nature to spot differences in people\u2019s faces,\u201d Yee said. \u201cIf they\u2019re going to look, I wanted to give them something to look at.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Today, she has dozens of fun designs by Leitzel and reserves her realistic eye for rare occasions, like renewing her driver\u2019s license. \u201cIt depends on my mood \u2014 and my outfit,\u201d Yee said. Jet black for the gym. Pearly white, with Swarovski crystals and gold under the protective acrylic layer, for her wedding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Not all of Leitzel\u2019s experiments pan out. Attempts to embed insects \u2014 a bee, a scorpion \u2014 have resulted in crushed blobs, though the latter surprised her when it glowed under a black light.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Leitzel\u2019s latest pursuit was a snow-globe effect, involving glitter that would dance in diluted glycerin. It wasn\u2019t working as she hoped. \u201cLiquid is not a thing,\u201d she said, scrutinizing the translucent plastic between her fingers. \u201cAt least, not until I figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/05\/01\/style\/christina-leitzel-fun-prosthetic-eyes.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a maker of prosthetic eyes, Christina Leitzel was told as an apprentice to treat her craft much as an expert art forger would: create a perfect match of one of nature\u2019s most intricate canvases. But just as there are many ways to lose an eye \u2014 to cancer or to a fall; to a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/10\/multimedia\/00artofcraft-funeyes-06\/artofcraft-funeyes-jcft-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[47573,229164,83283,1587,177375,4686,125714,11241,114250,776,1172],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294656"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294656"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":294658,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294656\/revisions\/294658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}