Edouard Martinet was born in Le Mans, France in 1963. He received a BFA from ESAG in 1988, and after working for two years as a graphic designer he became a professional artist. Martinet collects material everyday items—rusted kitchen pans, type writer keys, car lights and other scrap metal—from flea markets and car boot sales, with the intention to forge them into objets d’art. He starts by drafting several detailed sketches of the animal or insect he has in mind to build, and then embarks on the meticulous journey of fitting together all the loose components, not with a soldering iron, but ‘as if assembling a puzzle of random pieces and parts.’ Martinet has won several awards and his work has been exhibited across France and in London.