Turning trash to treasured art

The saying "one man's trash is another man's treasure" is true when it comes to Rotorua artist Todd Harris.

The 43-year-old Ngongotaha man turns pieces of scrap metal into artwork that can be seen in about 12 galleries throughout the country.

His work was a popular exhibit at the Vintage and Veteran Car Club's North Island Swap Meet at Rotorua's Arawa Park yesterday.

He makes his birds, cars, motorcycles, animals and fish from different pieces of materials such as car parts and tools that are then welded together .

"They are made from absolutely anything at the moment, it's anything I can weld together," Mr Harris said.

Although he didn't receive a lot of orders out of attending the swap meet he said taking his work there was rewarding because he enjoys seeing other people appreciate what he does.

His nieces Timia Harris, 13, Olivia Klinac, 10, also got to spend the day watching people enjoy his work.

"Everybody loves them [his sculptures] because I make sure they can recognise the parts."

He attends the meet religiously because he sources a lot of his material there.

It takes at least two weeks to finish one sculpture. Mr Harris did not study art at tertiary level. Instead his change in career from a panel beater of 25 years to a full-time artist came about because he enjoys working on cars and transforming car parts into "creatures".

This is now his passion and what he intends to do for the rest of his life.

The most exciting thing for Mr Harris so far is being asked to create a display for the SEMA Show in Las Vegas in November. This is the world's premier automotive specialty products trade event.

As part of his project Mr Harris will make a 190cm woman made from car parts, including a running engine and turbos.

He hopes the international show will be the beginning of big projects for him. Another hope is that one day he will have his own gallery.

Mr Harris started work on his sculptures in 2000. It is only in the last six months that he started sculpting full-time and now can't imagine doing anything else.

"It's my passion now. I knew from the moment I made the first one I'd do it forever."