What makes a "well made" sculpture to you?
It means giving the impression that the object is natural, that it exists thanks to nature and doesn't look man made. Sometimes people say of my works: "where did you find it?" so I say, "I found it in the forest of my imagination". Life is expressed through the object.
When and how did you actually start?
Just after my internship in 1984. I finished it at the end of March and in early June I set up my first exhibition! I first started in my father’s atelier; he was a cabinetmaker. I found an old wooden lathe, I started to experiment with it.
©Christophe Nancey
What specific techniques have you developed?
The technique of inlaying with tin, my first technical creation. It took me 3 to 4 years to master it completely. It consists of enhancing the natural defects of the wood, using its empty parts, natural gaps. From this, I also developed the mosaic technique, constructing pieces from those voids.
What is a memorable moment in your professional life?
Between 1992-1995, the movement of French turners invited turners from abroad, especially Canadians. Their technical advancement of the craft brought us a lot. It was three extraordinary years of collective and individual growth, a great novelty and a burst of enthusiasm.