ocularistry

MORGANTOWN -- The field of ocularistry, or crafting artificial eyes, has been around for nearly 450 years.

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Today, we call professional eye makers ocularists. They work in a field called ocularistry. They are not doctors. They have a variety of backgrounds: sometimes sculpture or painting, sometimes medical illustration, sometimes special-effects makeup artistry, sometimes something completely unrelated to eye making. Most often, they are self-employed, owners of their own small businesses, or work for a self-employed ocularist. Almost always, you’ll find their offices in medical parks next to those of orthodontists, veterinarians, optometrists, urologists, allergists, dermatologists. Sometimes they’ll be in brick buildings by themselves on thoroughfares near shopping malls and fast-food restaurants or on the sixth floor of a building downtown. Many times, an ocularist will belong to a family with generations of ocularists, the older teaching the younger, the business passed on like an heirloom. You can find third-generation and even fifth-generation ocularists.

The Ancient Art and Intimate Craft of Artificial Eyes The MIT Press Reader 2025

Today, we call professional eye makers ocularists. They work in a field called ocularistry. They are not doctors. They have a variety of backgrounds: sometimes sculpture or painting, sometimes medical illustration, sometimes special-effects makeup artistry, sometimes something completely unrelated to eye making. Most often, they are self-employed, owners of their own small businesses, or work for a self-employed ocularist. Almost always, you’ll find their offices in medical parks next to those of orthodontists, veterinarians, optometrists, urologists, allergists, dermatologists. Sometimes they’ll be in brick buildings by themselves on thoroughfares near shopping malls and fast-food restaurants or on the sixth floor of a building downtown. Many times, an ocularist will belong to a family with generations of ocularists, the older teaching the younger, the business passed on like an heirloom. You can find third-generation and even fifth-generation ocularists.

The Ancient Art and Intimate Craft of Artificial Eyes The MIT Press Reader 2025