Don visited sculptor James Corbett at his studio in Caboolture, near Brisbane. Unlike traditional sculptors, who work in stone or bronze, James makes his sculptures from old car parts. He first discovered his knack for sculpting when he ran a wrecking business specialising in French car parts, and put together a racing trophy from spare parts in his workshop. Customers commented on the piece and orders started to come in, including an order for a series of major works. Twelve months ago James decided to close the wrecking business and concentrate on sculpting.
James collects parts for his sculptures at swap meets, car yards and garage sales. His subjects include motorbikes, cars and animals such as horses, birds, frogs, possums, kangaroos and dogs. Sometimes he finds an old part that inspires a work of art, at other times a client commissions a particular item and James finds the parts to suit. He particularly loves old chrome parts, and tries to have at least one interesting part in every piece. He welds all the bits and pieces together while maintaining the integrity of each part. The parts may be cut, but never bent, and the artwork is occasionally enhanced by the addition of a little colour. James doesn’t bother doing drawings of the motorbikes and cars he sculpts, but he sometimes does a simple sketch of the animals to make sure the weight and movement is right.
For the trivia buffs: The original ‘Gentleman’ Jim Corbett was a heavyweight boxer, whose fight with Bob Fitzsimmons in 1897 was one of the first sporting events ever filmed.
Further information
Prices for individual pieces seen in our segment:
‘Green Tree Frog’ – $7500
‘The Whip’ – $2500 (a horse)
‘Prefect – The Bitsa’ – $3500 (a dog)
‘Ford Superoo’ – $3000 (a reclining kangaroo)
‘Bavarian Biker’ – $2250
‘Ringtail’ – $1500
‘Forties Racer’ – $1800
James Corbett can be contacted on phone: (07) 5429 5154.
James Corbett’s work is on show now at:
Michael Commerford Gallery
16 McLachlan Avenue
Rushcutters Bay, NSW, 2010
Phone: (02) 9331 3338
Opening hours:
Saturday 9-4
Sunday 10-3
Tuesday to Friday 10-6
Closed Mondays
Prices at the show range from $400 to $4000. The current show runs until June 20 but Michael Commerford Gallery sells and handles commissions for James Corbett’s work.