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Giant crab spotted scuttling into Caerphilly Castle moat is art installation

News | | Published: 15:00, Thursday June 25th, 2015.

CRABBY: The sculpture in situ at Caerphilly Castle
CRABBY: The sculpture in situ at Caerphilly Castle

If visitors to Caerphilly Castle scuttle down to the moat they will catch an unexpected visitor in the form of a giant crab.

But seafood enthusiasts beware, there’s no meat in this crustacean – just old metal and junk.

The crab was sculpted by artist Barry Lewis, who ‘upcycles’ rubbish to create art.

It is being displayed in the moat as part of his WreckCreation exhibition at Y Galeri in the town, which runs until July 17.

Mr Lewis began sculpting animals out of rubbish while campaigning against the dumping of waste at a landfill in the 1990s.

He began taking the rubbish home and using it to create insects .

The crab was made by Barry Lewis
The crab was made by Barry Lewis

The vision behind his work is all about transformation: as a carpenter he transformed trees into stair cases and now he’s a sculptor he transforms spoons into animals.

He believes there is art and beauty to be found in everything, even if it’s a pile of rubbish dumped by an angry lorry driver.

Mr Lewis, who works out of a chapel in Tonypandy, said: “Waste comes in through the door of the previously abandoned old school rooms attached to the chapel, and leaves having been mysteriously fashioned into something beautiful, to be sold in galleries around the UK.

“As a young boy growing up in Tonypandy in the Rhondda I was fascinated with my grandfather’s ability to create and to bring things to life in his shed.

“If this wasn’t enough, my father was an engineer and my mother was a watercolour painter – art and creativity was a strong ingredient of my childhood.”

The giant crab will be in the moat until after the Big Cheese festival and Barry Lewis will be at Y Galeri on June 27 to answer questions about his work.

Y Galeri is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm and admission is free.

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