Roberto Chaudon in the Spotlight

Today's interviewee is sculptor Roberto Chaudon. Thank you for sharing in.
Spotlight are short interviews to introduce some of the artists here at Putty&Paint.

Who are you? Tell us a bit about you.

I’m a mexican artist living in France since some years ago. I studied fine arts in my natal country and made some exhibitions of painting and sculpting there as well as in France, U.S.A. and Chile. I like to play strategic games, principally chess. My first approach to the world of modelism was this: While I was walking on the street I saw a store where there were small characters and creatures that I like it very much, so I came in and everything began!! As a combination of the activities I have made I figured that making a chess set with some of the little figures could be fun, so I bought two boxes, then three and so…I had some armies already. Then I started to sculpt and paint special characters and monsters for them. One day a friend told me to participate in a contest held in Paris called “Golden Demon” in 2005. That was a great experience indeed. Then I had some commissions of sculpting and came the idea to start an own line of figures and busts with my own designs. Both, sculpting my own pieces as my mark and working as a freelance sculptor has taken my production time and since then I’ happy to live of that!! I have collaborated with companies like Fenryll, JMD, Pegaso Models, Knight Models, Mierce Miniatures, Gripping Beast, Battle Front Miniatures, etc. as a sculptor. I also paint (and I love it so much) but don’t have enough free time for that as I would like ...

What are your favorite tools, and why do you use them?

My favourite tools are the ones I have made myself, there are others I’ve bought which are great obviously but the ones I have constructed even if they are simple, give me the possibility to work more comfortably, I try to make them the way I feel as a kind of extension of my hands and mind. They are made mainly to sculpt with wood, wire, metal, silicon …

How would you describe your own style?

This is a difficult question to answer but I’ll try to say something … One thing I like to represent very much is the theme of dynamics, in a physical but in a mental way, too. I’m going to split the idea in two parts, A & B. A being busts and B figures.
A: I believe that when is about making a bust I try to give it a feeling of more static but strongest presence about character. Mmm… speaking about action or experience for example is like if it’s given through a look in the eyes as if it is in there ready to explode but contained with a static and pose … I personally believe that sometimes putting a bust in a very dynamic pose is like too obvious that lacs of truth …
B: With figures something different happens to me. I need more motion in a physical way, the balance, composition, etc. even painting ask me to play deeper with the space. Also tension is treated differently, I believe …

I don’t know if all this “describes my style” but is something I experiment as a need when I sculpt or paint some model. Maybe if you take a look at my website at the small gallery called “Fine Arts”. It can tell you some more … at the end the best is that people could see a personal version about the author!

You can take a look to this small video, too.

Show us your workspace. Do not clean it.

Who influences your work and what inspires you?

I think as everybody I’m influenced about all I live, all I see, all I read, all I listen to, but for me the fine art creators are the ones who influence me the most. In sculpture people like Rodin, Michelangelo, Henry Moore, Brancusi, Calder, Bernini, etc. In painting, Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Rafael, Picasso, Monet, Bacon, Goya, Bosco, etc. among many others are great inspiration. Illustrators of our time (mainly Fantasy) are such a help for the spirit of creative living.

Show and tell us what you are currently working on or what you recently finished?

At this moment (as always) I’m working on several projects but unfortunately I can’t talk about that now…but I do about the last one I’ve sculpted for my brand. It’s an Aztec bust which has a particular meaning for me because it represents some period of the history of my country. I can still see this people in an anatomical way through the heirs of that empire on the streets of Mexico as well as their cultural side and nature, I have tried to catch some of that. Anyway, I think this is a great subject for painting.

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Visit Roberto Chaudon at Putty&Paint