Sculptures Made From Sand, Scrap and Driftwood, and Where They Are Now (10 Photos)

Where They Ended Up

A red squirrel made of scrap in Dublin, a bull shaped from wet sand on a Basque promenade, a wire couple from Burning Man. These 10 sculptures were built from things most people would walk past, and each one went its own way.

One was taken down to make way for a hotel. One crossed an ocean and now sits in a Hungarian vineyard. A few still stand where you can visit them, and some were never meant to last. Here is what happened to each of them.

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🐂 “Lemmy” — By ArtFe / Kev Paxton in Scotland, UK 🇬🇧

Heavy agricultural chain becomes the shaggy coat of a Highland cow. You can see every rusty link, but the head, horns and stance still make Lemmy look ready to walk off. Kev Paxton, a sculptor and artisan blacksmith based near Edinburgh, runs ArtFe with his partner Cat Stops.

📍 Where ArtFe’s cows go now: To the Chelsea Flower Show. This was not Lemmy himself, but in May 2026 The Irish Times found ArtFe there for the sixth year, with another rusty metal Highland cow wearing a Glasgow-style traffic cone. Paxton said everything on the stand was “100 per cent upcycled” scrap, and that he once spent 1,500 hours on a Clydesdale horse.

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🏖️ Sand Bull — By Andoni Bastarrika in the Basque Country, Spain 🇪🇸

A bull rests on a concrete platform above the beach, every fold of its skin shaped in wet sand. Its maker leans in behind it with a smile.

💡 Sand Fact: In 2020, My Modern Met reported that the self-taught artist shaped wet sand by hand, and sometimes with sticks, on the Basque beaches of northern Spain, and that this life-size bull used real horns and rocks for hooves.

📍 What happened next: The bull, made on the seafront promenade in Zarautz, went viral in 2019. Since then, Bastarrika writes, his sand sculptures have taken him to Saudi Arabia, Brazil, France and Italy. He started in 2011, making sand figures on the beach to play with his two young daughters.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsSand BullAndoni Bastarrika · Zarautz, SpainSand sculptureLife-size bullBasque Country1He made it on the seafront promenade in Zarautz, and says it went viral in 2019.Andoni Bastarrika2According to My Modern Met, its horns were real and its hooves were rocks.My Modern Met202022 MayPhoto and interview · LA NACION202025 MayResting bull reported · Europa Press202026 MayInterview with the bull · Bored Panda202028 MayTwo views of the bull · My Modern MetRead the full file →

More: Andoni Bastarrika’s sand sculptures on SAU

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🧜‍♀️ Wire Mermaid — By Martin Debenham

Martin Debenham’s stainless-steel wires follow the curve of a mermaid’s back and flow into a long tail. The figure sits on a boulder beside the water, with gaps between the wires letting the garden show through. The self-taught British sculptor makes his wire figures from stainless steel, inspired by fantasy and nature.

📍 Where his mermaids go: Up for sale. Debenham sells his wire figures, and in 2020 Awesome Inventions reported one of his mermaids, Mermaid 3, for sale, made to sit on a rock, preferably by a lily pond.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsWire MermaidMartin DebenhamStainless steel wireOn a rock beside water1My Modern Met says each wire strand follows the curves of the body and flows into a long mermaid tail.My Modern Met2Awesome Inventions calls one of Debenham’s mermaids Mermaid 3, made to sit on a rock, preferably by a lily pond.Awesome Inventions20189 MarOn a rock by a lily pond · My Modern Met202022 OctNamed Mermaid 3, up for sale · Awesome Inventions202122 AugGazing at a pool of water · DemotivateurRead the full file →

More: Artworks That Seem to Grow From Nature

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❤️ “LOVE” — By Alexander Milov at Burning Man 2015, USA 🇺🇸

Two wire-frame adults sit back-to-back. Inside them, illuminated children reach toward each other through the metal. Odessa artist Alexander Milov’s LOVE was Ukraine’s first project at Burning Man in 2015; the adults’ turned backs and the children’s outstretched hands tell different stories.

💡 Wire Fact: The adults are big metal cages, and the children reach out through the grating.

📍 Where it is now: In a Hungarian vineyard. The sculpture did not stay in the desert: since 2017 it has stood among the vines of the Haraszthy estate in Vál, open day and night all year with free entry. The winery has a LOVE festival at the sculpture planned for June 12, 2027.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsLOVEAlexander Milov · 2015 · Vál, HungarySteel wire-frame adultsBurning Man 2015Haraszthy estate, Vál1LOVE was built in Ukraine for Burning Man 2015 in Black Rock City, Nevada.Burning Man2Bought by a Hungarian winemaker, it was officially opened in Vál on 1 September 2017.Ukraine Kiev Tour201516 SepColossal: at Burning Man20171 SepInstalled in Vál20266 MayWinery page published202622 SepWinery page updatedRead the full file →

More: See more of Alexander Milov’s LOVE

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🐘 “Elephant” — By Villu Jaanisoo in Jyväskylä, Finland 🇫🇮

Stacked black tires form the legs, and coiled tires wrap into the head and trunk. In this photo, ladders and scaffolding still surround the elephant while three people work on its head and back, which shows how big it is.

💡 Rubber Fact: Jaanisoo, an Estonian sculptor, made “Elephant” in 2018 from recycled tires and steel. In 2021, My Modern Met reported that he was based in Finland and that he had worked with rubber since as early as 2001.

📍 Where it is now: Still on show. The art guide of Jyväskylä’s Kangas district lists “Norsu” (Finnish for elephant) where Rusokinkatu meets the cycle route. The district puts roughly one percent of its plot sales and building costs into art and events.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsNorsu (Elephant)Villu Jaanisoo · 2018 · Kangas, JyväskyläSteel & recycled tires360 × 420 × 250 cmKangas district1The elephant is built from steel and recycled tires, 360 × 420 × 250 cm.Villu Jaanisoo2It stands where Rusokinkatu meets the cycle route in the Kangas district.Kangas art guide201828 SepUnveiling announced · Gradia2019Photo by Anni Koponen · Cupore report202427 FebNamed in award notice · Finnish Cultural FoundationRead the full file →

More: Villu Jaanisoo’s tire elephant on SAU

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🪨 “George Washingstone” — By Justin Bateman in Thailand 🇹🇭

Up close it is a patch of gravel. From a few steps back, the white wig, the face and the dark coat of George Washington appear, sorted entirely by the color of each stone.

📍 Where it is now: Left behind on purpose. The Chiang Mai-based British land artist makes his unsigned pebble art in wastelands, forests, beaches and mountains, where GMA News notes that only a few lucky people stumble upon it. He has said his work is impermanent.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsGeorge WashingstoneJustin Bateman · 2021Found pebblesGeorge WashingtonImpermanent land art1Justin Bateman lists the piece on his own website as ‘George Washingstone’ 2021.Justin Bateman2Bateman told My Modern Met his pebble works are temporary: “My work is impermanent, I leave only footprints.”My Modern Met202125 AugShown as “George WashingSTONE Portrait” 2021 · Trendy Art Ideas20213 NovShown with the caption “George Washingstone” · My Modern Met202117 NovShown in the Spanish edition · My Modern Met202210 MarWashington named among his subjects, not this piece by name · Vision TimesRead the full file →

More: Justin Bateman’s pebble portraits on SAU

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🌿 “Among the Roots” — By Debra Bernier

A woman with closed eyes leans out of the driftwood, half hidden by tangled roots. A crack in the wood runs straight down through her face and neck.

📍 Where her figures go: From the beach to her shop. Bernier finds her driftwood, sun-bleached bones and shells on the shores of Vancouver Island, Canada, and sells her original works and prints through her Shaping Spirit shop, My Modern Met reported in 2025.

More: Debra Bernier’s driftwood sculptures on SAU

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🎅 Father Christmas — By Beach4Art in North Devon, England 🇬🇧

Father Christmas strides across the sand with his sack, made only from beach pebbles: dark gray for the sack and boots, purple for the coat, white for the fur trim.

📍 Where it is now: Left to the beach. Beach4Art, a family of four from Bideford led by Ieva Slare and Dzintars Slars, lays out its pictures on open Devon sand using pebbles, seaweed and driftwood from the beach. When they made Exmoor ponies in 2022, ITV News reported, the work took about eight hours over two days, and only a low tide kept the half-finished picture unspoiled overnight.

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💚 “Lampioni Innamorati” — By Rodolfo Marasciuolo in Turin, Italy 🇮🇹

Two green lamp figures sit on a bench in Parco del Valentino, one leaning toward the other. Their bent bases look like seated legs, while a small metal cat stretches beside them. Rodolfo Marasciuolo, a municipal gardener, made the pair from reclaimed materials.

💡 Origin Fact: The bench was the first work Marasciuolo ever showed. He told TPNews in 2022 that it began as a single seated lamp post with two cats, and only later became two lamp posts in an embrace.

📍 Where it is now: Still on its bench in the park’s rock garden, the Giardino Roccioso. Walk on and you can find more of his works made from salvaged materials, among them a fairy playing hopscotch, a frog in a well and a cat poking out of a manhole, SiViaggia writes.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsLampioni InnamoratiRodolfo Marasciuolo · Parco del Valentino, TurinReclaimed materialsTwo lamp posts and a catGiardino Roccioso1Rodolfo Marasciuolo, a gardener for the City of Turin, made the bench from scrap and salvaged materials.Corriere Torino2It began as one seated lamp post; Marasciuolo later added the second lamp as a companion.TPNews201614 SepUltima Voce report20219 AugTorino Top News202217 JanGuidaTorino20226 MayTPNews interview202414 FebCorriere Torino202412 JunRadio Viva FM20246 SepTorinoToday202625 JanTorino CronacaRead the full file →

More: Sculptures With True Creativity

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🐿️ Red Squirrel — By Bordalo II in Dublin, Ireland 🇮🇪

A red squirrel spreads across the side of a corner building, holding a pale nut. The fur is rusted scrap and painted waste, bolted and wired to a pub at the corner of Tara Street and George’s Quay.

💡 Scrap Fact: The Irish Times reported in 2017 that the waste came partly from a metal recycler in Poolbeg and a yard in Finglas, and that the piece took about a week to make. It points to the plight of the red squirrel in Ireland.

📍 Where it is now: Gone. In June 2019, 98FM reported that the squirrel was coming down after two years, and Lovin Dublin then gave the removal date, Tuesday, August 6, so that a hotel could be built on the site. Its making had been filmed for A Life of Waste, a short film that went on to win several awards.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsRed SquirrelBordalo II · 2017 · Tara Street, DublinTrash Animals seriesMade from scrapThe Workshop Gastro Pub1The Irish Times reported the waste came from Hammond Lane Metal Recycling in Poolbeg and a yard in Finglas.Irish Times298FM reported in June 2019 that the squirrel was coming down after two years because of planned building works.98FM201710 AprBuild announced for 10–15 April · Hot Press201716 AprUnveiled on George’s Quay · Daily Edge201717 AprWhy a giant red squirrel? · Irish Times201720 AprThe story behind the squirrel · Irish Times20182 MayStill up a year on · TheJournal.ie201926 JunPetition to save the mural · Change.org201926 JunReported coming down for building works · 98FM20196 AugRemoval set for Tue 6 Aug (year from the weekday) · Lovin DublinRead the full file →

More: Bordalo II’s trash animals on SAU

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Which One Would You Go and See?

Three of these you can still visit: the tire elephant in Jyväskylä, the lovers’ bench in Turin and LOVE in the vineyard at Vál. Which one would you travel to see? Tell us in the comments.