Rusty vehicles and road signs usually get replaced, but for British artist Dan Rawlings, this degradation presents an opportunity to let his art shine. Rawlings picks up scrap metal objects and turns them into beautifully carved plants and forests. He chooses trees as his theme because these images “remind people of the moments when everything seems possible and free.” While these works are pretty to look at on a surface level, look closer and you’ll find they’ve been created to interact with the environment around them. The works use light to cast shadows on their surroundings, turning the mundane into the extraordinary.

In one of his most iconic pieces, Nature Delivers commissioned for Lost Eden section of Kendal Calling Festival, Rawlings carved his signature patterns onto a Ford transit van to demonstrate nature’s ability to reclaim even the strongest of materials, offering the idea of an alternate future with nature overpowering industrial modern life.  Sadly the van was a victim of vandalism but its spirit stays. Other recent works of Rawlings include a “One way” sign that looks particularly glorious after dark, and other road signs that showcases his craftsmanship with extremely delicate cut-outs.