[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.
What a beautiful wall paintings!