I grew up in Lyon, France, in an art loving family, which gave me the opportunity to be constantly exposed to any artistic form. I was myself considered by the family and close ones as an artist, for I spent most of my free time playing the violin, drawing, painting and making objects with the small recovery material stored in what I called my “do-it-yourself box”.
Nevertheless, my family was very focused on academic performance and my results being up to their expectations, I had not allowed myself to consider a career as an artist. By starting my higher education, I gave up all artistic practice, for lack of time and so, during the 18 years that lasted my graduate studies and career as an executive in private companies.
It took a departure in expatriation in 2009, for family reasons and a remarkable encounter from my arrival in the country, so that I resume an artistic activity, this time with modeling clay. Very quickly, I realized that sculpture was what I had always looked for and decided within me, as crazy as this resolution might seem, that I would turn professional sculptor.
I tackled the task, hard. I learned as much from my own experience, by trying, making mistakes and practicing relentlessly, as through specific trainings with experts in their fields, which I participated in during my visits to France (modeling clay, molding, bronze casting with “lost wax” process, bronze patina). I also learned from Indian craftsmen, molders and founders, as well as at the sculpture studio in which I practiced for 2 years in Delhi, before having my own studio.
Parallel to my arrival in India, I began to open myself to spirituality through readings and encounters. This dimension took on a major importance in my life, alongside sculpture. Quite quickly, 5 themes (Indian life, childhood, water / sea, love and spirituality) were drawn in my creations, all inspired by joyous or touching scenes that I would have seen or lived, without I can link these themes together.
It was only later, after having produced more than thirty works and refined my style, that I understood, thanks to the reading of Eckhart Tolle, how to link the pieces of this puzzle. The common foundation of all my creations consists in showing the experience of now and highlighting its power of joy and serenity. My creative journey was finally explained: born of my fascination for the Indian lifestyle centered on the present time, opposite to the Western way of life mostly focused on the past or the future, and enriched by the scrupulous observation of childhood, which offers an exemplary illustration of the benefits of a life centered on the moment. In addition to these two streams of observation, I had “frozen” a few scenes referring to water, love and spirituality, all of which have the power to immerse ourselves in the experience of “being”.
Returning to France in mid-2016, I continue to create works more centered than ever on the illustration of the present moment, in order to share and spread the beauty of this wisdom. I quit my spouse name Christine Margotin and take an artist name, Christine de Côme, inspired by my maiden name.
Below, in 2016 with my children, my main muses.
