One of the most-exciting and best-loved exhibitors at last year’s UK Aware was Hubcap Creatures, and lucky for all of us, Hubcap is making a return appearance at this year’s UK Aware show in April.
So just what does a hubcap – a rather measly and inanimate car part – have to do with a living, breathing creature? Quite a lot actually, once artist Ptolemy Elrington gets his hands on few used ones. Ptolemy turns the old, worthless pieces of metal into all sorts of creatures, including sharks, dragonflies, fish, dogs and even lovely little penguins.
The beauty of Ptolemy’s work lies not just in the end result, but also in his ability to see art in the everyday, his genius mixture of resourcefulness and imagination. As he notes on his website, hubcaps are automatically rubbish when on the side of the road, but with a little effort and creativity, he transforms them into something that gives people a great deal of pleasure. Ptolemy finds something more in abandoned objects than their intrinsic worthlessness.
So leave the lillypads and landscapes, the bridges and ballerinas to other artists. Give the used hubcaps to Ptolemy, and next time you are about to discard of something that seems to have no value or purpose, consider its infinite possibilities.
Come to UK Aware, April 17-18, where you can see some of Ptolemy’s hubcap creatures, and maybe even purchase one! Get your tickets here.
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