Fuel tankers and trucks transformed into intricate steel forest works

Exploring our ‘manipulation and commercialisation of nature’s resources,’ as the artist fittingly puts it, he hopes his work will inspire people to consider just how detrimental fossil fuel industries are to our planet.

‘Many people have never seen steelworks, factories, or coal yards, and do not consider their existence – and yet our whole way of life stems from them,’ he states. Future Returns exists to remind us all.

Surrounded by illuminated dust and dry ice, his exhibits really look the part, encapsulating the damage being inflicted by our ceaseless emissions and how ‘we ignore it in favour of profit.’

Rawlings’ work does, however, provide a seed of hope by highlighting the undeniable resilience of mother nature and its ‘weird force that people underestimate.’ Ultimately, he believes it will reclaim all in the end.

‘The last year or so has been an amazing example of that,’ Rawlings says. ‘The amount of businesses that have been shut for a year, and then you go and look at their car parks and everything’s so overgrown. You can’t tell what’s temporarily closed and what’s been derelict for 10 years.’

On display at the 20-21 Arts Centre in Scunthorpe until late September, Rawlings’ forest style signature can be found on old cars and vans, a particularly eye-catching exhibit showing a burnt out plane engulfed in dry ice and light, and even a road sign.

The way the artist makes use of angles and shadows is equally impressive as the hundreds of hours spent with cutter in hand, and ultimately his message is one we must heed.

‘We’ve more than got the technology and the scientific ability to think about the future and to do things in a way that will stop pointlessly destroying everything.’