The eye is a very special organ allowing us to witness the marvels of nature, provide awareness of our surroundings, the ability to communicate with loved ones and many other critical functions.
However, eyes are also vulnerable. Sporting accidents, industrial injuries, birth defects, glaucoma, diabetes and cancer are common causes of eye loss.The surgical removal of an eye requires a prosthetic eye which is crafted by an ocularist.
Kerri Wilson is a Sydney ocularist with more than a quarter century of experience in the art and science of crafting artificial eyes using a precision machined acrylic...
centre piece which she uses as an easel to paint the intricate colours and shades of the iris.
Prior to WW2 artificial eyes were handblown glass prosthetics. The glass used was sourced from Germany. WW2 caused Allied countries to lose access to German glass. Wartime injuries increased the urgent demand for an alternative, which was developed by a team working with the U.S army Dental Corps using acrylic, a material new to dentistry at the time.
The advert of acrylic birthed the modern practice of ocularistry, a blend of science and art in crafting an eye that closely resembles the real eye and with realistic colours and blood veins.
Kerri Wilson is one of a handful of ocularists in Australia. She handcrafts each prosthetic eye to meet the specific requirements of each patient. After carefully hand painting the iris colours for the prosthetic eye in the presence of the recipient, she machines the iris on a small precision lathe and proceeds to build the bespoke prosthetic shape.The prosthesis is then cured in a polymerisation unit, used to cure acrylic at high temperatures & under high pressure, once cured it must be allowed to cool naturally.
Kerri continued by stating “I have been using precision machined acrylic parts from Allplastics Engineering for more than 10 years and their quality has always been an important factor in our business”
Allplastics Engineering has been machining plastic components for a variety of industries since 1979.
