These Stunning Animal Sculptures are created by Korean artist Yong Ho Ji with layers of used tire strips bound together by synthetic resins on supporting frames of steel, wood, or Styrofoam.
He uses rubber tires as his medium because he thinks of the material as a mutation, something that comes from nature but ends up looking entirely different from the original form. He also likes the material because it’s malleable and a close approximation to skin and muscles.
This 29-year-old has made a career out of sculpting larger-than-life animals. His Chelsea, New York studio is filled with hyenas, horses, felines, and the menacing ram’s head. His work is slowly beginning to achieve the recognition it thoroughly deserves. A shark he sculpted recently went for $145,000 at auction, and in December 2009, the Gana Art Gallery, where his fantastic artworks have earned him a prestigious live-in arts residency and studio, held his biggest opening in Seoul yet.
