In August 2021, at the age of 15, Luke Humphrys held his first solo exhibition ‘Rust Reloaded’ as part of the 2021 SALA Festival. The exhibition almost sold out on the opening day. He has now had three SALA exhibitions and won the Youth Category for the Brighton Jetty Sculpture Competition twice in a row. Four years ago Luke taught his, then 13 year old brother, Riley how to weld and now they both create and exhibit work under the business name ‘Rusty Recycle Art’. Not to be out done, Luke and Riley’s dad Richard has also picked up the welding gun and creates his own Garden Art pieces under the ‘Rusty Recycle Art’ banner.

The environment and in particular reducing landfill, are important to both Luke and Riley, which is why they create their one off, individual sculptures for your garden, using only recycled materials that they source from farms, garage sales and generous donors cleaning out their sheds.

There is something timeless and magical when you see old tools and industrial components given a vibrant new life, transformed into whimsical animals or geometric sculptures that echo their past lives, pay homage to the work that they have done for their owners and live on to bring joy to a totally new audience. With ‘Rusty Recycle Art’ there is nostalgia for those who remember toiling away with similar tools and a sense of wonder for those who have never seen such things before.