Woha, I almost want to cut my leg to have one of these!

Exactly what I thought! This makes being limbless, almost cool.  I love it when people turn a negative, into a positive :)

So is it more of an art project, or more of a science/medicine project?

The link doesn't have any details, just the beautiful pictures.

Maybe it is best described as functional art.

Is it available for purchase or is she just encouraging others to make their own?

"Nowadays prosthetics are intended to look as natural as possible, in order to hide, mask a defect. But Sophie de Oliveira Barata offers a personal and friendly bespoke service, which provides unique prosthetics to blend in with the body or stand out as a unique piece of art, reflecting the wearer’s imagination, personality and interests. 

Her “Alternative Limb Project” features cutting-edge design prosthetics. The wearers are involved in all the stages of the process from conception of ideas to the final work.  The goal of alternative-style limbs is to help break down social barriers, delight the eye and provide an unusual talking point.

Sophie de Oliveira Barata comes from an art background. She has a first class honors’ degree from the London Arts University where she studied Special Effects prosthetics for film and T.V. Sophie then went on to work for a while as a sculptor making realistic looking, bespoke prosthetics for amputees at one of the leading prosthetic providers. She worked in all areas sculpting fingers, toes, partial feet, partial hands, bespoke liners and leg and arm covers for amputees. In her spare time she made more experimental art work in this medium before setting up her own studio.

Now working as a specialist consultant, as well as producing realistic looking artificial limbs, Sophie de Oliveira Barata uses imaginative ideas to create alternative effects with direct input from the client. She can interpret your ideas and create a unique design that will reflect your interests and personality.

Sophie de Oliveira Barata often collaborates with other artists with different skill sets; such as graphics, laser cutting, metalworks, plastics and woodwork. This allows her to have many more possibilities and can generate interesting results.

Each client comes to her studio for a consultation. Sophie takes color readings, photographs, and discusses ideas in case someone wants something a little different. After each fitting test, if they are not happy with the results, Sophie will make modifications and repeat the process. When clients are satisfied with the fitting and the design, the limb will be created. Each customer is invited to the studio to be a live model as the limb is sculpted.  If opting for something a little more unusual, they will be invited to assist in design decisions.

Although she also offers her talent at creating realistic limbs, Sophie de Oliveira Barata’s “surreal” and “unreal” lines of alternative limbs are the most unique and eye-catching attractions, with an impressive variety of color and texture. Each design offers a sense of individuality, allowing the customer to express their personality through their synthetic appendages. In this artist’s opinion, having an alternative limb is about claiming control and saying “I’m an individual and this reflects who I am”."

Looks like one could approach her to do a limb for you, not sure what the charge would be.

Wow. Cool. Excellent. Thank you Janill!