YOUR BIOGRAPHY LISTS YOU AS A SCULPTOR AND DESIGNER. YET, EVERYTHING YOU MAKE IS SCULPTURE OR SCULPTURAL — DO YOU SEE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO PRACTICES?

I HAVE AN MFA IN SCULPTURE, AND I APPROACH THE CREATIVE PROCESS FOR MY OBJECTS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A SCULPTOR, NOT A DESIGNER. I CONSIDER MY WORKS TO BE 95% SCULPTURE AND 5% “DESIGN” SINCE I ONLY ADD A SMALL UTILITARIAN FUNCTION TO EACH OF MY ARTWORKS.

I TRY TO LOOK BEYOND THE EPHEMERAL AND THE FUTILITY OF CONSUMER GOODS AND FOCUS ON A CONCEPTUAL APPROACH TOWARD THE OBJECTS I CREATE. I CAN ALSO BE CONSIDERED A DESIGNER SINCE I FOCUS SOMETIMES ON CONSUMERISM, BUT ONLY FROM A CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVE.

EACH OBJECT IS ENTIRELY MADE BY YOU, AND NOT BY OTHER ARTISANS OR CRAFTSMEN. TELL ME WHY YOU BELIEVE THAT IS IMPORTANT?

FOR MY CURRENT WORKS, I DON’T LIKE TO PUT MY SIGNATURE ON PIECES THAT ARE NOT MADE DIRECTLY BY MY HANDS. OBVIOUSLY, I AM NOT ALONE IN THIS ENDEAVOUR, BUT THERE IS NOT A SINGLE PIECE WHERE MY HANDS DO NOT INTERVENE IN THE BUILD PROCESS SINCE I CONSIDER MY WORK AS BEING ART AND LESS DESIGN. WOULD YOU CONSIDER BUYING A PAINTING THAT IS MADE BY ANOTHER ARTIST? BETTER TO BUY A PHOTO OR A PRINT. PLUS, AS AN ARTIST, I DEEPLY ENJOY THE BUILD PROCESS FOR EACH OF MY WORKS. IT GIVES ME TIME TO THINK, TIME TO MEDITATE.

EVERYTHING YOU MAKE IS CUSTOMIZABLE AS WELL. WHAT WAS YOUR THINKING BEHIND THIS APPROACH TO DESIGN AND SCULPTURE?

ALMOST ALL OF MY PIECES ARE CUSTOMIZABLE. THAT’S BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO PRODUCE PIECES IN A FACTORY-LIKE PROCESS. IN FACT, THE WORKS THAT I SHOWCASE ARE USUALLY SEEN AS PROTOTYPES FROM WHICH MY CUSTOMERS CAN PURCHASE A SIMILAR YET UNIQUE WORK, MADE ONLY FOR THEM.

THE VARIETY OF PROCESSES AND TECHNIQUES YOU EMPLOY FROM CLAY MODELLING, MOLD MAKING, AND CARVING TO VARIOUS FORMS OF SCULPTING IS IMPRESSIVE. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AND TRAINING?

I REPRESENT THE SECOND GENERATION OF ARTISTS IN MY FAMILY. I HAVE CONNECTED WITH “LES BEAUX ARTS” FROM AN EARLY AGE, MAINLY INSPIRED BY THE ARTISTIC PRACTICES OF MY FATHER, WHO WAS A PAINTER. MY FORMAL TRAINING BEGAN AT TIMISOARA SCHOOL OF ARTS IN THE SCULPTURE DEPARTMENT, CONTINUING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARTS AND DESIGN IN TIMISOARA, WITH AN MFA IN SCULPTURE.

UNIVERSITIES EDUCATE BUT DON’T TEACH YOU HOW TO BECOME AN ARTIST OR DESIGNER. STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT ARTISTS START BEING ARTISTS WHEN THEIR FORMAL TRAINING STOPS (UNIVERSITY). GREAT ART IS DEFINITELY NOT MADE AT THE UNIVERSITY, BUT RATHER IN A GARAGE OR IN A WEIRD ATTIC, WHERE THE ARTIST CAN BE ALONE TO CONFRONT HIS THOUGHTS.

YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH DIGITAL 3D MODELLING SOFTWARE FOR OVER 20 YEARS NOW — AN EARLY ADOPTER. HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THAT?

THE FUNNY THING IS THAT I HAVE A BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN CYBERNETICS. WAY BEFORE FULLY COMMITTING TO BEING AN ARTIST, I WAS DEEPLY SUBMERGED IN THE VIRTUAL SPACE. I HAVE BEEN CREATING 3D MODELS, ANIMATIONS, AND VIRTUAL OBJECTS SINCE I WAS A KID IN HIGH SCHOOL.

YOU COMBINE DIGITAL 3D SKILLS WITH PHYSICAL SCULPTING SKILLS TO CREATE WORKS THAT ARE KIND OF AUGMENTED REALITY ARTWORKS. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THIS PROCESS?

USING HIGHLY DETAILED 3D SCANS, I HAVE DIGITALLY EDITED AND MODIFIED THE SCULPTURES TO FIT MY CONCEPT. AFTER THE PROTOTYPE IS READY IN THE SOFTWARE, I BRING THE ARTWORK BACK TO THE PHYSICAL REALM WITH THE AID OF 3D PRINTING.

SINCE 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGY IS NOT YET PERFECT, WE STILL HAVE TO REFINE THE PRINTED MODEL, SAND IT, POLISH IT, AND PREPARE IT FOR MOLD MAKING. WE TAKE SILICONE MOLDS OF THE PLASTIC PRINT AND REMAKE THE ARTWORK WITH STRONGER AND MORE DURABLE MATERIALS LIKE JESMONITE OR RESIN.

REGENERATION AND SUSTAINABILITY ARE OF GREAT INTEREST TO YOU — HOW ARE THEY MANIFESTED IN YOUR WORK?

SIMPLY BECAUSE IT’S PART OF MY BASIC CONCEPT OF SYNTHESIS.

MY CREATIONS HIGHLIGHT THE SYNTHESIS THROUGH ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS USED, SUCH AS: SYNTHETIC MARBLE (RESIN AND MARBLE DUST), SYNTHETIC RESIN (PLEXIGLASS), SYNTHETIC CEMENT (JESMONITE), CHARCOAL, BURNED WOOD, AND SO ON. MY WORKS HAVE A POWERFUL CONCEPTUAL PLASTICITY BUT ALSO PHYSICAL PLASTICITY; A CONCEPT THAT CAN BE INTERPRETED AS MODERN WORKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY.

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW?

THIS YEAR WAS A LITTLE INSANE FOR ME (LIKE MOST YEARS ), I AM RELEASING A NEW COLLECTION. IN THE MEANTIME I HAVE QUITE A LOT OF WORK FULFILLING CUSTOM ORDERS FOR SOME VERY INTERESTING CUSTOMERS, WHILE ALSO WORKING IN PARALLEL DESIGNING NEW WORKS FOR NEXT YEAR . THE REALITY IS THAT I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE HOLIDAYS TO COME TO HAVE MORE TIME FOR MYSELF AND FOR CONCEPTUALIZING NEW WORKS! I ALWAYS POSE MYSELF A QUESTION BEFORE STARTING A NEW WORK:”IS THIS ARTWORK WORTH DOING, AND WHAT WILL IT MEAN ONCE COMPLETED”

EVEN IF IT’S AN INTERVIEW, I CONSIDER THAT MY PURPOSE HERE IS NOT TO GIVE ANSWERS BUT RATHER TO HELP THE READER POSE QUESTIONS AND REFLECT. I NEVER FOCUS ON MAKING EXPENSIVE WORKS THAT SELL WELL, BUT RATHER VALUABLE WORKS FOR A VERY, VERY SMALL COMMUNITY. MAKING GREAT WORK IS NOT AN EVENT, IT’S A WHOLE PROCESS THAT SOMETIMES TAKES A LIFETIME. I’M FULLY COMMITTED TO IT.