Amanam, the ‘prosthetic’ immortal genius
When his brother lost his limb at twenty one due to a car accident, John Amanam, who possesses a degree in fine and industrial arts, decided to make a prosthetic hand (he had lost his fingers) for him since the one they had ordered was not of his skin tone.
He is the founder of Immortal Cosmetic Art and the first Nigerian prosthetic artist, making limbs, fingers, nose, and ears for black and brown people.
By helping his brother gain his confidence back, Mr. Amanam transitioned to a prosthetic artist, becoming the first African sculptor focusing on hyperrealism. He produces flesh covers for burn, cancer and accident survivors.
His work helps his clients gain their confidence back and boost their self-esteem as his prosthetics matches their skin tone.
Although prosthetics have been in existence for a long time, Mr. Amanam claims he is the first prosthetic artist who pays particular attention to detail as he sculpts each and every product making the nails and veins visible and realistic. When making an order he makes sure he gets your correct skin tone, and measurements to get the prosthetics done. Due to high volume orders it usually takes two months to finish a single order.
He went viral after he posted a picture of a prosthetic hand on his Facebook page, it was well received and started getting orders from people around the world. Mr. Amanam who never had any interest in prosthetics found the business in 2019 and as of 2021 he had made prosthetic body parts for nearly two hundred clients.
His greatest achievement is being able to put a smile on people’s faces who had lost all hope, Mr. Amanan said, “I’m blessed to be able to help so many people.” Mr. Amanam hails from Uyo state and is a University of Uyo alumni, he has always be an art lover, a talent he inherited from his father a carver, who also inherited it from his father.
