Viktorija Moskaļova (; born 25 February 1987), better known as Viktoria Modesta, is a Latvian-born British singer-songwriter, performance artist, creative director, and model. Modesta's leg was injured during her birth. She had it voluntarily amputated in 2007. She was signed to IMG Models as a model, and as a musician she is also known as a "Bionic Pop Artist". Her music video "Prototype" received a Silver Lion Award at the Cannes Film Festival. She also performed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony and was a guest star at the Crazy Horse in Paris in 2019. Early life Viktorija Moskaļova was born in Daugavpils in 1987, a town in the then Soviet-Latvia. where she learned singing aged six at a local music school. Moskaļova moved with her family from Latvia to the United Kingdom when she was 12-years-old. Due to a doctor's negligence during her birth she was born with problems in her left leg. Her teenage mother was then pressured to send her to an orphanage. She refused and raised Modesta, who spent most of her childhood in and out of hospitals. Career Modeling Moskaļova began modeling at the age of fifteen. She has appeared on subculture magazine covers such as Bizarre, Skin Two, in addition to appearing in mainstream magazines such as Elle, Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar. As a runway model, she has worked at fashion shows in Milan, London and New York. On 10 January 2015, Moskaļova signed with IMG Models worldwide. Music Moskaļova attended a performance art school from the age of 6 in Daugavpils, Latvia studying piano, vocal performance and sheet music. In 2009, she launched her first musical writing collaborative project with musician/producer Nik Hodges. Her first written track "Jane Bond" was featured in Music Week Playlist. In May 2010, Moskaļova was selected as one of the six best unsigned artists in the UK by Evo Music Rooms presented by Edith Bowman. The show was broadcast on Channel 4. On 19 March 2010, Moskaļova released her first EP titled EP1. On 28 May 2012, Moskaļova put out a digital, independent release of her debut single "Only You". which was featured by i-D, Wonderland and Notion magazines. On 12 December 2014, she launched a collaboration with Channel 4 for the campaign Born Risky, branding her as the world's first "Bionic Pop Artist" supported by the track "Prototype" released on Spotify for streaming. The video for