⭐Cosclayer Spotlight: Elisabetta Visentini⭐
My name is Elisabetta Visentini, (elisabetta_visentini on Instagram.) I am a 40 year old polymer clay artist and live in Italy, near Milan. I began my career as a Product Designer, with a Master's Degree in Product Design at the Politecnico di Milano, to then discover an incredible passion for everything that is handmade. Long-lasting pieces like a hand crafted furniture or a jewel, or ephemeral like advertising scenography. I worked with the most diverse product categories: From dog furniture to lighting; giant mock-ups to microscopic miniatures; classic furniture to clothing label graphics. I have taught graphics and now I teach sculpture with various fine art products.
Innovation and material experimentation are a constant part of my artistic life. In 2015 I decided to follow inspiration and create unique pieces that are always different, OOAK, One Of A Kind. I started by sculpting graceful and delicate fantasy creatures but very soon I discovered that I have a particular predisposition for ambiguity and the dark. I especially love making creatures and monsters, precisely because of the versatility of the realistic effects I can create. In 2018 I turned this passion into a real job to devote myself to full time. My favorite medium is polymer clay, but I also use epoxy and several other materials. I like to change the subject, type and I love challenges.
What got you interested in sculpting?
Elisabetta: I started sculpting for fun, to create very caricatured little creatures to give to friends. Then I started selling them at village parties and concerts. I have always had a great passion for everything that was fantasy and belonging to the world of fairies, so as soon as I could I started creating the creatures I imagined. My idea was to give life to all the creatures I could think of, making them real. Initially in a very simple way, later more realistic.
How long have you been sculpting your whimsical creations for?
Elisabetta: I started using polymer clay in 2001. I tried all the brands available, getting to know this material very well with countless characteristics and great creative potential. In 2015 I gave a change to my work which was initially very stylized by starting to work with greater precision on the details to create more realistic subjects. The passion for cinematographic subjects arrived a few years later: initially I didn't think I had the skills to carry out certain portraiture works, which instead I started to do with a lot of passion.
What inspires you?
Elisabetta: I find inspiration in everything that surrounds me, very much in nature which remains my main starting point for subjects, textures and ideas. I also find many ideas from everyday life, from my refrigerator, as happens with eggs! Moreover, since I have been passionate about making movie characters, obviously the inspiration comes from cinema, from TV series and from the customers themselves who ask me for characters that maybe I didn't even know before.
What are some of your most important tools for creating your sculptures? Is there something you can't live without in your studio?
Elisabetta: I have an impressive variety of sculpting tools although my favorites are dentist's, nail art dotters and some specific rubber tools for cake design. I really love the textures that I try to recreate with very different materials from packaging and specific sponges made by myself. In fact, it often happens that I build my own tools, if useful for a specific project, using the polymer itself, or epoxy or even silicone.
I believe that a very important aspect is to have the ability to understand which tool or material to use for each specific project. Specificity is fundamental. I can't do without these tools, acetone, softener oil, liquid polymers and my beloved chalks.
But the tools that I mainly use are my fingers!
“I sincerely believe that Cosclay is a revolution in the polymer industry. It is the material that was missing. When you get used to 'thinking' in terms of Cosclay, everything becomes possible. Finally I feel free to carry out all my ideas, my projects, freely without fear and with a great desire to experiment. The 'cosclay-thought' opens new design horizons giving infinite possibilities.”
Which Line (Doll, Sculpt, Deco) and colors of Cosclay are you using and why?
Elisabetta: As for the Cosclay I have a particular predilection for the Doll line, in particular a love born immediately, for the Doll Warm Beige that I use to do practically everything. It has a pigmentation and texture that I love. It simulates very well the flesh color and works very well, especially in the firm versions which I find particularly suitable for my warm hands.
As of late, I have also used a lot of the grays of the Sculpt line, for different projects and I had a great time. This gray lends itself perfectly to the creation of sculptures in shadow areas and different textures, helping the sculptor a lot in this work.
I love all the "liquids", the C1, C2, C3 and C4, they are fundamental for the realization of my works.
Above all, C1 has made it possible to carry out projects that are otherwise very cumbersome and not always with a guaranteed result.
I immediately fell in love with Glow in the dark and Translucent, of which I hope to be able to use other colors and finishes as soon as possible!
How has the inclusion of Cosclay into your artistic tool belt aided your creative process?
Elisabetta: Cosclay has completely revolutionized my artistic life in a way that I hardly know how to express.
First of all there was the surprise in seeing the incredible elasticity of this polymer. Elasticity that I have always tried to achieve by mixing different brands and looking for my ideal mix. With the arrival of the Cosclay it is as if all my wishes had come true in one fell swoop! Colors, textures, tone variations, all with incredible elasticity. A fantastic versatility both raw and cooked.
I was finally able to make all the monsters with tentacles, fantasy creatures with mushrooms, hair, lianas, tendrils and fluttering appendages. I felt free to be able to express myself without fear of having to limit my designs due to the rigors of shipping.
Where can I see more of your work? (social medias or website)
My works are visible on social networks and on my website
www.instagram.com/elisabetta_visentini
www.facebook.com/elisabetta.visentini.9
www.elisabettavisentini.wixsite.com/ooak
www.etsy.com/it/shop/MyMagicOoakland
www.mymagicooakland.bigcartel.com/
All images provided by and used with permission of the artists ©2022
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