A the Japan Expo, the great gathering of Japanese pop culture, which takes place from July 14 to 17 at the Parc des expositions de Villepinte (Seine-Saint-Denis), many visitors will undoubtedly be able to take their picture in front of two statues, life-size, of Luffy, the central character of One Piece, the best-selling manga in the world. If curiosity piques them, they may even ask their creator, Christophe Desnoielle, what material they are made of. « And zinc »he will answer proudly.
Zinc, yes, this bluish-white malleable metal, usually used to make gutters or bar counters. Roofer-carpenter in Saint-Maxire (Deux-Sèvres), Christophe Desnoielle, 33, knows the material well to work with it every day on the roofs of the area. The Japan Expo, where he will hold a stand for the first time, will be the starting point, he hopes, of his great project: from craftsman to becoming an artist.
The idea was forged in his head in 2015 after a ” ordered “ of his wife, Amélie, to fashion in zinc a copy of the helmet of Sauron, the title character of the Lord of the Rings, by Tolkien. Until then, Christophe Desnoielle had practiced making roses or symmetrical patterns, as roofers sometimes have fun doing in their spare time. After Sauron, will follow a 34-sided soccer ball, a Japanese maple intended to adorn a tombstone and a replica of the wolf-headed mask of the Bloodhound, one of the protagonists of Game of Thrones. “I told myself that there was a way to go furtherhe says. Before that, I had always thought that I was more physical than artistic. »
His passion for manga will then catch up with him. inveterate reader of One Piece – but also Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, Tokyo Ghoul, The attack of the Titansetc. –, this father of three children begins to manufacture weapons, statues, masks, directly drawn from his favorite series. In zinc, always. His tools are those he uses in his professional activity: folding machine, shears, trimming hammer, soldering iron – the whole art being to assemble pieces of zinc sheets in order to obtain a harmonious curve.
The endorsement of the master
After a first Luffy of 1.80 meters in “snakeman” mode (name of a fighting technique), Christophe Desnoielle recently tackled a “Joy Boy” Luffy version (the enigmatic double of the hero), who required three hundred hours of work – mainly at night: “I have hyperactivity disorder that can leave me awake for three days in a row. As long as this trouble is for something. »
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