An eye for business

It took her more than a year to learn how to make a prosthetic eye, which is still a niche field in China. From fully understanding the structural characteristics of Asian people's eyeballs to a knowledge of art and sensitivity for color, Liu had to work on each aspect to make prosthetic eyes, practicing thousands of times to perfect the necessary skills.

As well as learning from experienced professionals as an apprentice, she also sought information from foreign courses and taught herself different aspects of the trade.

Most of the steps of making an artificial eye require careful handwork and a high level of patience.

First, she creates a mold, based on the patient's eye socket, which she uses to craft a custom-fitted prosthesis. She usually uses a macro super high-resolution camera to take a picture of the client's functional eye to re-create the eye's shape and color.

"At the corners of the eye, there's a little pink part, which I will paint onto the artificial eye, as well as the blood vessels, so that it looks more realistic," she says, adding that comfort is another key aspect.

Each artificial eye takes from three to five days to make. Creating the prosthesis is not the end of Liu's work, however, as she provides ongoing care and adjustment to ensure that the prosthesis remains in good condition, as well as answering questions from her clients.

After she opened her studio last year and started sharing her story and information about her ocular prostheses on Douyin (the Chinese iteration of TikTok), many people with monocular vision impairment contacted Liu online for a consultation.