Tortenquatsch mit Carlos Lischetti

Carlos Lischetti ist einer der großartigsten Tortenkünstler dieser Zeit. Ich hatte bereits die Möglichkeit bei einem Kurs von ihm teilzunehmen. Er ist ein sehr geduldiger Lehrer und erklärt seine Techniken sehr genau und verständlich. Wenn ihr also jemals die Chance habt, ihn live erleben zu können: Packt diese Chance!

Seine Kurstermine, als auch natürlich Infos von ihm und Bilder seiner Werke findet ihr auf seiner Homepage.

Ich durfte ihm einige persönliche Fragen stellen. Er spricht Spanisch und Englisch, ich habe daher das Interview vorübergehend auf Englisch belassen, damit dies auch international gelesen werden kann. Ich denke, dass dies nicht nur auf Deutsch interessant zu lesen ist.

Ich muss euch noch von unserem Treffen erzählen… Ich habe mich zuerst nicht getraut zu fragen, ob er mit mir ein Interview machen würde. Er ist einfach ein so großartiger Künstler und ein großes Vorbild. Und er sagte nur: “Natürlich mache ich es. Warum hattest du Angst? Was ist der Unterschied zwischen uns beiden?”. Ein so schöner Moment!

1st question: what does home mean to you?
Home… it’s been difficult. It would have been difficult to answer a few years ago, but now since I moved to Barcelona I feel a lot happier compared to when I lived in the UK. I don’t know if I should say this but I never really fit in the UK background. I find it’s more familiar to me here in Barcelona than it used to be in the past. I had very good and sad memories at my times in the UK, but this is how life goes and I am here now.

What’s the story behind your first book and how did it happen that you decided to write a book?
My answer: the story behind my first book. I have to say that the story began when I started to work, actually we – my twin brother Elio and myself, started to work. Writing the first book was a long, long process. It took more than a year to get it done; and for me the creative process is always difficult to jump on as – you know – the purpose of the book was there, but while we were working we didn’t have an idea or a clue what kind of characters we were going to include in the process. But you know, in the end it all came naturally and evolved in these 12 characters for the book. Once we had seen the final result we could look back and find the story within the process.
the story behind is just the process of jumping in and writing.
It’s a difficult story because it’s like a blank canvas that you need to fill in with your ideas.
It’s been always in the back of my head to write a book, mainly based on my own experience of my own modelling process. Basically the purpose was sharing our ideas.

The next question would be: your figures are worldwide known. Which other techniques do you often use and what do you like about it?
I love modelling. I love creating something with my hands. I love the idea of having some sugarpaste like a lump in my hand and then transform it into something. I think there are a lot of other techniques that I enjoy in general. Another thing I love is pastry – I love every technique that is involved in sugarcraft and pastry. As a pastry chef I really love tempering chocolate or baking cakes and working on different fillings, different combinations or different textures and flavors that amaze me. What i really need is more time (?)
I wish I could do more pastry nowadays but I’m hoping to come back to that.

What was your dream job as a kid?
interesting question. Yes, I think when we were kids we really enjoyed painting, we’d spend long evenings with my brother and my sister and good friend of us building all sorts of things out of cardboard. We’d cut out pieces of paper that we’d glue together to create beautiful robots. And with my brother and sister we used to paint a lot. I think that came after my parents and grandparents who really encouraged is to do all sorts of creative things. But it came naturally so I think these had a huge impact on me as a kid. I could easily relate this craft with sugarcraft. So as a kid I really dreamt of becoming a pastry chef – no not a pastry chef. I really enjoyed being in the kitchen and that led me to become a pastry chef. I think that would be my answer. My dream job as a kid was inevitably to be in the kitchen where I feel happy (and I still am) being in that environment. to be able to create things with edible materials and when it comes to sugarcraft i think it’s beautiful to be there despite all the creative process that i’m not all happy about it but I can tell you about it later.

You have a twin brother. In which way are you different or simular. Do you supplement each other?

I have my twin brother Elio. Even though we look similar and we have a lot of similarities on taste or the way we behave or react to the same situation, we’re very different in personality. A thing that was very evident when we started working on the book together, we both come from very different backgrounds. He’s in the animation field and I am in the pastry field. The timing is different. So working together really brought all the differencies to the surface. I was the one rushing to the project whereas Elio was the one holding me back. And he would say „Carlos, please take a minute and think of what do you want to show in this sugarpaste. What would you like to express within this piece of work. So it was a difficult process in the beginning because I had to learn and I still need to learn to slow down, take a deep breath, think about what is the next project, what is the background of the character. What do i want to express within that piece like I said before. And i think the combination of the two of us really – despite all the differences between the two of us we were able to come up with very fresh and new ideas. And that’s it, so even though it’s not easy working with family, the results are shown in every single character that we developed together.

We know from your books that you are working close to your brother. How can we imagine the creating progress of a new figure?
this is an interesting question because the process of creating a new figure to me is never easy. I would describe it as jumping into the unknown. You have to create something new from nowhere, it’s like a blank space that you have to fill in with ideas. And getting the right idea, the figures, the whole idea when you feel that spark of creativity is not always easy to find. But when I have it, and it usually happens when I’m working not when I’m sitting, watching TV or doing something that is just… you know when you really get into your work, that’s when creativity really hits you and.. when i’m in that process, i basically start of with a sketch on paper, then my brother or anyone else (other artists) I would always need their reference to start. So once I get the idea that I want to work on, I start to make my first approach from the piece of paper, the 2D image and then I go for the first piece. And then I see all the things I need to improve once the first raw model has been finished,, because I need to find my own way to the modelling techniques or the tools that I need to use. So I try to have a go and flow within the process and not to put any limitations on the process, which is not easy sometimes. I try to get it right from the very beginning and it never happens; I inevitably have to go through the process of getting used to that shape and the movements of my hands and the tools that I’m using. So once I find the process, or when I know that the process is clear to me then I jump on a second figurine, I try to make it neater and cleaner and to enhance what I’ve done before if I can. So i sort of push my limits to get a better character in a way.

Where are your inspirations from?
sorry I forgot to mention on the previous question… basically it’s always the same process. We start with an idea, that can be Elio’s idea or my idea or we work together. Elio hands me the sketch on paper and then I have a go, like I explained before. Then I show the 3D character to Elio and he’s the one judging like move the head to the one side, move the legs, a little to the left,… he is perfecting the posture especially of the figurine. And that’s how we get involved in the process together. And once Elio is happy he will sketch it and that’s what you see in the book.

My inspirations could be from my travels around the world, could be a person, a piece of music, a story I’ve heard or read in a book or article that really trigger my ideas.

Next question: What are your hobbies, what do you do in your leisure time:

My hobbies would be – that is a difficult question to answer – I don’t have many hobbies at the moment. I used to have many hobbies as a kid, like papermaché or painting or with pencils or other mediums.
Now I watch films and I hang out with friends, go for dinner – especially in a pleasant atmosphere. I’m not really swimming as much as I’d like to. But swimming would be my preferred leisure activity.

You’ve spent your holidays in Austria several times. What do you like about the country?
the first thing that comes to mind is food. I LOVE the food in Austria, delicious. Very rich and tasty. Last but not least I think people always make the difference in each place that I visit. What I like about the country is the way they welcome me. Friendly and determined to get something done.

What can we look forward to. Will there be new workshops or books?

I am not really working on new ideas at the moment. I know it takes a lot of time to put together a book or ebooks or online tutorials because I need to set the proper time to work on something new. Now I’ve been so busy travelling around the world and teaching so that I prioritize the time abroad rather than working on new things. Now I am determined to come up with new ideas, which means I’ll need to slow down my travelling and focus on new work. So basically I will come up with new ideas and hopefully people will relate to those new ideas.

Finding new ideas is always hard work, especially fresh ideas so I don’t repeat myself and that’s the new challenge for me. And I was saying it’s difficult to come up with new ideas especially when we’ve seen so many new ideas on the different social medias. (Facebook, instagram) I think it’s getting harder and harder to have your own voice and your own style when I see so much around me. By saying this I would like to share my thoughts with you regarding the media these days. I think they had a negative and positive impact on me. There are always pros and cons on everything, but the positive aspect would be to get to people who promote your work. To be able to promote and share the work with others. To share the venues and places I’m visiting. But when it comes to seeing the media are overflodded with cakes and designs and everything, it’s very difficult to come up with something truly new. So you can stand out for your innovations and fresh ideas.
It is pushing me to find my own voice and my own ideas.

I hope you find my answers interesting

Wish you all the best with your blog and thank you very much for the interest in my work.

Vielen Dank für deine Zeit, Carlos. Ich freue mich dich wieder zu sehen! Du bist ein wunderbarer Mensch und Künstler!