All images courtesy of Ptolemy Elrington
In his manic studio, the 43-year-old works full-time creating glorious animal sculptures from hubcaps of all kinds, though he especially likes those from BMW and Mercedes vehicles. These are all put together using scrap wire and cut with either craft knife or hacksaw. He charges customers only for his labour, around £80 a day.
The most expensive of Ptolemy Elrington's sculptures was not this lizard but a dragon measuring 10m in length that took over a month to build, using over 200 hubcaps.
Elrington's most expensive sculpture sold for £3,000, but other pieces such as lizards, flies and others are just as good but smaller, and cost considerably less, sometimes just a few hundred pounds.
Elrington works with reclaimed materials because he aims to prove that "one man’s junk can be another’s treasure." The artist is actually quite expansive about his artwork, saying that he "likes the process of discovery" that is an inherent part of the work he does.
If he makes something from a basic material like clay or wire for instance, he is completely in control, so for him some of the pleasure of discovery is taken out. He normally has a basic notion of the thing he wants to create, but the process is an evolving one and no ideas are set in stone. He likes to, at times, step away from what he might be working on, especially when faced with a challenging commission, because he may want to do some sketching or refer to some book for a more cohesive idea of the final image he is attempting to achieve.
There are times when the thing he is working on seems boring, but this comes from repetition, which is sometimes unavoidable when creating a large piece. Elrington likes to work in his studio as much as he can, doing a variety of different projects to keep his mind fresh and interest levels high. Sometimes, he appreciates having a deadline to meet because it makes him focus when he might otherwise prevaricate.
Elrington listens to loud music whenever he works, everything from Beethoven to the Beatles, and often finds himself so wrapped up in his artistic reverie that hours have simply disappeared from his day. Ptolemy has been creating his incredible hubcap sculptures for some seven years now and never once has his enthusiasm waned.
As he puts it: “I'm a real stickler for detail and try to work as closely as possible to photographs or the creatures I have seen at the sealife centre. ... I'm now working full-time, mainly doing commissions for councils and companies. I also did one for the environment agency. ... Recycling has become more mainstream these days and companies and councils like my style”.
It is not just those companies and councils that have a liking for what this imaginative trash recycler so effortlessly creates, however, because more and more people are becoming enamored of his fabulous sculptural talent. His work is edgy, raw and very much ‘in your face’, but that surely is the point of it.
Ptolemy wants you to stop and think about the environment, the planet and mother nature herself, while lost in admiration of his astonishing creations. This is a sculptor with a massive future, and whatever he produces next will be well worth waiting to see.
My sincere thanks to Ptolemy Elrington for granting me permission to use the images in this article.