Born in 1947 in France, though I don't remember much about it.

Studying at Beaux Arts in Geneva, Switzerland, brought about many things, including a diploma in engraving (1975).  Since then, I have found fundamental to show that chairs are not just meant to seat on, or to stand on when reaching for a jar of jam.

We all know that chairs have symbolic aspects - from the Holy chair to the electric chair, they mean power, authority, justice...

In my work, over their concrete or symbolic dimension, the goal is for them to stir feelings - of joy, of fear... Chairs have something to say about little funny bits of life, small flowers of meanings, little vertigos of ironic poetry, somewhere between tenderness and tragedy.

Anchored in the old time depth of engraving, in the eternal density of bronze, they move, they talk. Will you talk back?

Christian Rattoray