Alison Lapper

Alison Lapper MBE (born 7 April 1965 in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire) is an English artist who was born without arms. She is also the subject of the sculpture "Alison Lapper Pregnant", which was on display in Trafalgar Square until late 2007. [citeweb |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/biography/article568942.ece |title=Review: My Life in My Hands by Alison Lapper with Guy Feldman |publisher="Times Online" |author=Christopher Hart |date=September 25, 2005 |accessdate=2008-05-05] [citeweb |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/10/arts/design/10traf.html |publisher="The New York Times" |date=October 10, 2005 |author=Sarah Lyall |accessdate=2008-05-05 |title=In Trafalgar Square, Much Ado About Statuary] [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1571296,00.html "Sculpture's unveiling is pregnant with meaning" "The Guardian"] ]

Early life

Alison Lapper has a congenital disorder, phocomelia, which caused her to be born without arms and with truncated legs. Her mother met her for the last time during her childhood when she was four months old, although a reconciliation was attempted later in Lapper's life. She was institutionalised from her childhood, and is still distant from her relatives.

When she was fitted with artificial limbs, she experienced them only as an attempt to make her look less disconcerting instead of actually helping her. So she abandoned them and learned to live without external aids.

At the age of 19, Lapper left the institution and moved to London. She acquired a driving licence and a flat. Lapper studied in the University of Brighton and graduated with a first class honours degree in Fine Art in 1994. [citeweb |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1561046,00.html |title="Beauty unseen, unsung" |publisher="The Guardian" (extract from novel published by Simon & Schuster) |author=Alison Lapper |date=September 3, 2005]

Artistic career

Lapper uses photography, digital imaging and painting to, as she says, question physical normality and beauty, using herself as a subject. She paints with her mouth. One particular influence is the sculpture Venus de Milo, due to the physical similarities between the idealized classical female statue and Lapper's own body. She has taken part in various British exhibitions, including in the Royal Festival Hall. She is a member of the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists of the World (AMFPA). In May 2003, Lapper was created an MBE for her services for art.

After she had given birth to her son Parys in 1999, who was born fully formed, she created an installation of photographs of herself with him. Alison and Parys feature on the yearly documentary Child of Our Time.

Marc Quinn sculpture

She posed for Marc Quinn for the sculpture "Alison Lapper Pregnant". Made of Carrara marble, it shows Lapper nude and heavily pregnant. It occupied the fourth plinth in London's Trafalgar Square between September 2005 and late 2007.

References

Further reading

* Alison Lapper and Guy Feldman – "My Life in My Hands" (2005) ISBN 0-7432-7558-6

External links

* [http://www.alisonlapper.com/ AlisonLapper.com] Official web site

Persondata
NAME=Lapper, Alison
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=artist
DATE OF BIRTH=7 April 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH=Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=