From scrap heap to sculpture: Retired tradie transforms old wreck into beachside ‘Driftwoody’

A rusted-out delivery van, a condemned light pole, old gas cylinders and discarded sawmill blades might look like little more than scrap to most people.

But in the hands of retired builder and mechanical fitter Guy Humphries, they have become the makings of Driftwoody, an interactive sculpture set to take its place on Currumbin Beach for this year’s SWELL Sculpture Festival.

The Southport metalwork artist has drawn on a lifetime of trade skills and a knack for seeing potential in things others have thrown away to create the ambitious work, which depicts a woody-style panel van bogged in the sand, complete with a palm tree, surfboard and two surfers whose priorities are very different.

The story of Driftwoody began well before Humphries started welding the sculpture together, when he was given the remains of an old vehicle discovered on the town common at Morven in western Queensland.

A friend told him about the wreck and encouraged him to come and have a look. Despite its condition, Humphries loved its shape and began researching what he had found, eventually identifying it as an old Fordson delivery van.

The vehicle had a history of its own. It had once belonged to a shearer who drove it to work at a shearing shed in Morven around 50 years ago. By the time it reached Humphries, however, its days as a working vehicle were long behind it.

“It was too far gone to turn it into a car again,” Humphries said.

Its wooden frame had rotted and much of the remaining body was rusted, so rather than attempt a conventional restoration, Humphries decided to use what remained as the foundation for something completely different.

He cut away the damaged panels and rust and replaced sections with timber, gradually transforming the old delivery van into his own take on the woody wagons associated with surf culture.

“I called it Driftwoody because of driftwood on the beach,” he said.

The van itself is only part of the sculpture, with Humphries incorporating an assortment of salvaged materials to build the beach scene around it.

The palm tree, for example, began life as a light pole that had been condemned after being damaged and was destined for scrap.

Humphries spotted the 12-foot pole in a skip at a scrap metal dealer and immediately knew what he wanted to do with it.

“That was definitely going to be a tree because it was 12 ft long and it’s hexagonal in shape, which is an interesting shape,” he said.

Using his metalworking skills, he was able to cut and bend the pole until it appeared to curve over the woody below.

The roots of the palm tree are made from offcuts of concrete reinforcing steel, while the front end of the car comes from a different vehicle altogether – a rare Reo Speedwagon.

The two surfers have also been assembled from unlikely materials, including gas cylinders from air-conditioning units.

Perhaps one of the most inventive transformations can be found overhead.

Humphries created the palm fronds using disused bandsaw blades from a sawmill, cutting and bending them to take advantage of the teeth running along their edges.
When two pieces are put together and shaped, he said, they begin to resemble the frond of a palm.

Turning such an assortment of unwanted objects into a large-scale sculpture has allowed Humphries to draw on skills developed throughout his working life.

He began his career as a mechanical fitter before retraining as a builder and later worked as an operations manager managing high-rise buildings.

“Being a fitter, you learn how to weld,” he said.

“So, this whole thing is welding and a little bit of timber work, so just dressing timber and tidying it up. I’m just using general trade skills that I’ve developed my whole life.”

While his career gave him the practical skills to build something on the scale of Driftwoody, Humphries said the desire to create had been there for much longer.

“I had this creative flair that I always wanted to use and when I retired, it’s just how I ended up, just picking up stuff I could get for nothing,” he said.

There are no sophisticated cutting machines doing the work for him either.

“I didn’t have the money to buy laser printers or plasma cutters or anything like that. It’s all done with a grinder and a welder. So, it’s all by hand.”

That hands-on approach has resulted in a sculpture Humphries hopes festival-goers will do more than simply look at.

Driftwoody has been deliberately designed to be interactive. The doors open, visitors can sit on the seat and have their photograph taken, and Humphries has ensured there are no sharp edges so children can climb in and out.

The scene itself tells a story, with the two surfers responding very differently to the unfortunate situation of finding their woody bogged on the beach.

One is attempting to solve the problem, shovel in hand as he digs around the back wheels.

The other apparently has more important things to worry about.

“He’s putting wax on his surfboard, which is leaning up against the car and they’ve both got thongs on,” Humphries said.

For Humphries, that sense of fun is a big part of what he hopes people take away from the work when they encounter it on Currumbin Beach.

“I hope people feel excitement, laughter and just enjoy it,” he said.

“I just want to see people enjoy it and have a laugh and try and follow the story of the woody bogged on the sand.”

Driftwoody will be among the works on display when SWELL Sculpture Festival transforms Currumbin Beach into an outdoor gallery from September 11 to 20, 2026.
For more information about the festival and its 2026 program, visit SWELL Sculpture Festival.