14 DAY TRIAL // Amanda Cotton found a new way of using the human placenta, by transforming it into life-long souvenirs in the shape of photo frames. Instead of throwing the placenta away, Amanda saw an opportunity and turned it into a start-up business by creating some of the world's most unique photo frames.
The 25-year-old Brighton University graduate found that by adding dried and crushed pieces of placenta into molds with clear resin, she could create marble-looking frames. The entire placenta is used for just one frame and as weird as it may sound, the young girl already has a lot of orders for the unusual hand-made souvenir.
The placenta is boiled, then crushed into small pieces before mixing it with clear resin. Amanda finished her Master’s degree in sustainable design a few years ago and has a passion for using materials that most people consider waste.
“We have to think of all waste in a completely new way, as raw materials which hold huge potential. Why not use human waste where possible,” the young woman says according to DailyMail. Amanda's interest in placentas came after living with a midwife and noticing from her studies that the human placenta was given an insignificant importance even if it is the link between the mother and the baby for 9 months.
Cotton believes her work should have a deep meaning for the people who desire it, it is not only art, it is a reminder of one of the most important periods of a woman's life, her pregnancy. “From this starting point, I chose to create which pin-point key times in one's life, using materials of personal significance,” Amanda says when talking about her work.
The Brighton graduate works at a London design company and is also specialized in 3D materials, using all of her skills to express “the amazing and intricate materials our bodies provide.” The feedback received from her unique placenta photo frames has been all positive, and Amanda is really looking forward to expanding her business and creating other meaningful keepsakes.