We see broken down cars on the side of the road on a daily basis. Sometimes these vehicles are still able to be driven but are such an eyesore that they’re embarrassed to be associated with. Sometimes they aren’t worth the metal (or plastic) they’re made of, so they end up in various states of decay on roads, in yards, and parking lots. While sites like TheClunkerJunker.com make it their goal to recycle as many vehicles as possible, sometimes the vehicle is too far gone to buy. What happens then?
Meet Miina Akkijyrkka, a Finnish artist who also raises cattle… in more than one way. Yes, we mean she sees baby cows into adulthood, but she also creates magnificent cow sculptures made of car parts! Miina has a reputation for being one of Finland’s most colorful personalities in the art world. She uses other recyclable materials, such as beer cans to depict smaller cows, but some cows are ENORMOUS! To give you some perspective, a Volkswagen Microbus serves as the stomach for one of her famous cows!
Halfway across the world in Australia, James Corbett takes the animal love a little further! This artist takes the car parts from vintage cars to create animals like geese, pigs, dogs, and, yes, even a cow. Since he doesn’t use the entire car, they’re a little more portable and some are actually available for purchase. He also doesn’t bend the components to make shapes, he keeps the integrity of each part in the sculpture. His creations have been featured in exhibitions all over the world since 1999. How did he start? He ran an auto recycling business while living in Brisbane.
He first started with a race car, and soon his friends and customers encouraged him to create more.
If we take our travels to Salt Lake City, Utah, we can meet Andrew Chase, a self-employed photographer, furniture maker, welder, and assemblage artist. He creates his masterpieces from car and plumbing components. He has created cheetahs, gorillas, and even a steam engine table! The junk parts he uses are sometimes manipulated to create a shape, but they’re still amazing sculptures.
Our cars can have very long lives, but most end up in a junkyard or abandoned on the side of the road. Our imaginations can turn these awful eyesores into beautiful works of art. From cheetahs to cows, pigs to steam engines, the possibilities are endless!
These are some really cool pieces of art. I actually really like the dog one, especially with how the face looks. I’m a bit interested to learn how they got these parts and how they know how to use them exactly.