Interview: Tan-Ki

[We recently caught up with  French artist Tan-Ki for a quick interview as he was setting up his solo, When Birds Sing the Song of of the Clouds,  which opens on Friday, November 12th 2010 (7-11 PM) @ Toy Art Gallery in Hollywood.  It’s a quick read and gives more insight into his toys, their progression, and upcoming toys – including his first vinyl.]

VP: When did you start doing toys?

T: About three years ago.  I sculpted the first one by hand and then used computer modeling and stereo lithography to create the mold for the  current design.

VP: What drew you into toy making ?

T: The doubters. People told me that it wasn’t possible to create toys on my own, that I need a company behind me.  So I had to give it a shot.

VP:  How did you come up with the shape of your signature KiToy figure? 

T: I first created the toy as a DIY so it had to be easy to paint with a large surface area.

VP:  While you created the toy with the intent of painting it, you ended up customizing it with ‘inclusions’ – inserting various colorful objects into the clear figures.  Why ?

T:  Once I discovered clear resin it opened up a lot of creative possibilities.  I found it more enjoyable than painting my own toys – I’d rather paint other people’s figures.

 

VP: Tell me more about the ‘inclusions’ 

T: It’s taken a lot of patience, trial and error to get it right.  I use clear silicone molds to position the ‘inclusion’ before I pour the clear resin.  I first used candy and then started adding other things including toys.  I’ve tried to insert mini paintings of mine, but it doesn’t work – the resin and the paint have a bad reaction.

VP: What’s Next? 

T: I’m thinking about my next design – maybe my one-eyed creature. I’m also working on a vinyl which is inspired by Grendizer.  I’ve incorporated the giant robot  into my character. As an example -- the “hands” will become the horns. It’s in production in Japan.

 

Posted by Jack @ 02:48 PM in Interviews | Permalink  | Comments (1) |