96 » OpenRoad Driver
lying in a landfill for eternity were it not
for this strange art medium I use. What most people don’t know about
tire art is that…? How do you juggle baseball and art
in your life?
Where do you get your tires from,
and how many do you use in each
sculpture? It’s extremely difficult working with thick
rubber material. Things you think would be
extremely simple can actually be extremely
daunting. My career in baseball influences my
artwork quite a bit. The timeframe is the
biggest challenge. I devote seven months
exclusively to baseball but even once my
off-season starts, I’m still training daily for
baseball. My art career has to work around
my baseball schedule. I work on art as
much as I can during my off-season, but
I don’t think I can realize my true artistic
potential until my baseball career is over -
which is hopefully a long time from now!
I visit local shops and pick up tires for
free. The shops tend to have old ones lying
around everywhere because they have to
pay to get them recycled. So by taking
the tires off their hands I’m doing them a
huge favour. I use between 20 and 200 tires
for each sculpture, depending on size and
detail.
What’s the most challenging part
about assembling these sculptures?
Physically cutting the tires by hand is
not easy and my forearms cramp daily as
a result of this challenge! I spend a lot
of time shredding them and have gone
through around ten different pairs of
scissors in the process.
What would you consider your
greatest artistic achievement to
date?
Being featured in this year’s Goodyear
Cotton Bowl was a great honour. It was
the first time one of my sculptures has
been presented on a national stage and I
was extremely grateful for the experience.
Around that time I had just eighteen days
to complete two sculptures, which meant I
had to hire outside help to finish them on
time.
How, if at all, does your career in
baseball influence your art?
As a baseball player I never imagined I
would be involved in art the way that I
am today. I started out just wanting to
make really cool things. I never had any art
mentors and never took art classes outside
of high school. I create what I think will
be cool without any influences from the art
world and I think that’s what makes my
artwork different from other artists.
OpenRoad Driver presents a select list of sculptors whose works
are born from car parts. We salute their inspiration.
M E TA L PA R T S
Ptolemy Erlington
James Corbett
Igor Verny
Helen Denerley
Edouard Martinet
England
Australia
Russia
Scotland
France hubcapcreatures.com
jamescorbettart.com
facebook.com/IggyVerny
helendenerley.co.uk
edouardmartinet.fr
USA
Korea
USA blakemcfarland.com
yonghoji.com
RU BBE R T I R E S
Blake McFarland
Yong Ho Ji
Chakaia Booker
Curated by Will Fong and Melissa Mak