Fluid movements, bold colours, clear lines. When Lara Wilkin illustrates, her works appear full of energy – almost as if something is alive in them. Anyone who sees her pictures can hardly imagine how much technology, discipline and willpower goes into every single stroke – because Lara illustrates with artificial hands.

Her new circumstances awakened a desire to not only move forward with her prosthesis, but despite and because of it, to think further, to design further and ultimately to become part of the research community in the field of prosthetics. She used to win creative awards worldwide, but today her focus is on using all this interdisciplinary knowledge of creativity and technology to create added value for users and their participation.

Today, Lara Wilkin stands at the interface between design, science and healthcare practice. She is completing her doctorate with a focus on upper limb prosthetics and leads an international community for people with arm prostheses – the Arm Prosthesis Community. She advises companies on product development, as well as medical and technical professionals, and supports those affected and their families worldwide.

‘My prosthesis and my orthopaedic prosthesis are not replacements for me – I have embodied them, they have become a part of me and are certainly also a tool for my expression and participation,’ she says.

The individually tailored prosthetics/orthotics not only enable her to move functionally, but also give her back her independence – in everyday life, in research and in creative work. Lara goes further: she doesn't just want to be a user, she wants to help shape, improve and inspire.

In teaching units, workshops and lectures, she talks about gaps in care, technical care solutions, real-life situations, participation and inclusion, as well as what those affected really need. Often emotional, always precise. Her knowledge is personal – and academically sound. After completing her Master of Arts and working in the Department of Information Technology, she studied for her doctorate in university courses including prosthetics, rehabilitation technology and the fundamentals of biomedical engineering, and continues to further her education.

Lara is one of the only users worldwide who has tested almost all international hand prosthesis systems herself and can therefore evaluate them both technically and from a user's perspective. In a world where technology is often perceived as abstract, Lara Wilkin makes it visible, tangible and human. Her story shows that medical aids are not just technical solutions – they are the key to self-determination.