VOA标准英语2014--French Artist Uses Precision Skill to Paint Prosthetic Eyes 法国艺术家精确绘制义眼

 

French Artist Uses Precision Skill to Paint Prosthetic Eyes 法国艺术家精确绘制义眼

Millions of people around the world need prosthetic eyes to replace the ones lost to accidents or congenital disorders¹. A French miniature artist has devoted² his skill in detailed³ painting to help create prosthetic eyes that look very natural. 

Twenty-one-year-old Valérie Baiocco fell off a horse in May 2009, severely⁴ injuring her head and damaging one eye. Three years later, she underwent surgery in an attempt to restore her eyesight. But the surgery failed and doctors had to remove the eye.

Then she heard of a lab in the southeastern city of Lyons that specializes in high quality prosthetic eyes, and she went there last year to see if they can make a prosthetic that matches her own eye.

"I was really looking forward to having a new eye, especially for aesthetic⁵ reasons. To have both eyes the same, and not to look different to other people - be they friends or people in the street, it's clearly best to have both eyes the same. You feel less different," she said.

Baiocco's prosthetic eye looks almost like her natural eye, thanks to the precise and detailed work of artist Philippe Jacquin Ravot. He specializes in such precise painting that sometimes he needs a magnifying glass.

Ravot says a friend persuaded him to seek the job with lab owner Dominique Charles Messance who specializes in oculist⁶ prosthetics. 

"A friend who lost her eye in 1992 talked to me about Messance. I went to see him, not with a resume, but with my work, my files, my miniature trees," he said.

Ravot says he was hired on the spot and has been working with Messance ever since. He says he paints about 650 prosthetic eyes a year. 

"What interests me about this job is the precision, the use of colors which I use as an artist. It is interesting to have a job which is artistic⁷, but it also helps patients who need a prosthetic eye," said Ravot.

The cost of a prosthetic eye at Messance is about $1,200. It takes about six hours to make it. A person can arrive in the morning and leave at the end of the day with a new eye. 

Patients come from all over Europe, Russia and the United States. 

 

Ravot also has painted artificial eyes for the wax figures of celebrities⁸ on display at the Musée Grevin in Paris, but he says he prefers to make them for real people in need.

1 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

3 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

4 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

5 aesthetic   

adj.美学的，审美的，有美感

参考例句：

• My aesthetic standards are quite different from his.我的审美标准与他的大不相同。
• The professor advanced a new aesthetic theory.那位教授提出了新的美学理论。

6 oculist   

n.眼科医生

参考例句：

• I wonder if the oculist could fit me in next Friday.不知眼科医生能否在下星期五给我安排一个时间。
• If your eyes are infected,you must go to an oculist.如果你的眼睛受到感染，就要去看眼科医生。

7 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

8 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目