In Memorium: Joey Marsden’s tribute to the fallen

Maker of the Year 2026, presented by Hare & Forbes, is a competition for woodworkers and wood artists and is now open for entries. We spoke to recent entrant Joey Marsden about the significance and symbolic nature of his Afghanistan Memorial Sculpture: 42.

Joey, your piece obviously has a special significance. Is there a personal connection here? How long did you serve for and where were you stationed?
I enlisted in the Australian Army straight out of school. After completing training at the School of Infantry, I was posted to the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in Townsville.

In 2017, I deployed to Afghanistan on Operation Highroad as a ‘Guardian Angel’, providing close personal protection to allied advisors. I discharged in 2019 and discovered fine woodworking, which has been a significant outlet for me.

Model making in the design process

How did this commission come about?
The idea for the piece emerged during my third term at Sturt School for Wood. Our tutors at the time, Andrew Carvolth and Jon Goulder, came with infectious energy and encouraged us to look beyond function and begin designing work that carried personal meaning. It felt like the ‘artistic permission’ I needed. I was challenged to design something real. That process led me back to my service.

Staves for the model were easily bent using the hot pipe bending technique.

How did you arrive at the design?
After being encouraged to design from a place of service, I assembled a kind of mood board in the workshop; a sheet of MDF with a few key words, a memorabilia box I was working on, my medals, and in the corner, the number 42. I already understood its significance: 41 Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan. The 42nd was symbolic.

Later that evening, I began thinking about the 42nd, the cost that continues beyond a number. That was the shift. The 42nd became the point of reflection. I began sketching small thumbnail drawings almost immediately. The following day, I made a couple of scale models to get a sense of proportion and presence, and from there moved into the build and process testing.

Steam box loaded with machined spotted gum staves

What materials did you use and what techniques?
42 is constructed in three primary components – plinth, centre post, and staves.

The plinth is constructed as a torsion box with plywood facings, finished in acrylic render with brushed oxides and sealed for weather resistance. Sand fills only the upper 40mm below the threshold.

After steaming, the staves were clamped to formers to dry.

The upper and lower facings were temporarily laminated together, then cut and mortised using a router compass jig I fabricated specifically for the build. The jig incorporated interchangeable infill plates, allowing me to mark out the stave centres using dividers and pre-drill each location. I could then relocate the compass using a drill bit as an indexing point, swap the infill plate to the stave profile, and copy-rout each recess accurately. This process cut through the top facing while leaving a shallow mortise in the lower layer, enabling the staves to be inserted and self-support without mechanical fixing.

The bent staves back in the workshop for further work.

Each spotted gum stave was cut to a chevron profile using a 21° thicknessing jig, then steam-bent to a 600mm radius. The inner face was grooved with a plunge router, while the external face was power carved to introduce subtle variation within repetition. They were then burnished, trimmed to final length and finished with penetrating oil.

The spotted gum centre post serves as the visual anchor, it measures 126mm x 126mm, three times the width of a single 42mm stave, and the top is cut to 42°, a continuation of proportional rhythm.

Gold tinted, vinyl back-acrylic was used to introduce warmth and reflection.

The spotted gum centre post serves as the visual anchor for the staves with their applied reflective inner surfaces.

Where does it reside? Is this a public place?
Its current installation is in the pond adjacent to Sturt Gallery, where it was exhibited as part of the exhibition Threshold.

As for the future, I have offered to donate the sculpture to the Australian War Memorial so it may remain within the context of remembrance.

At the time you were a student at Sturt School for Wood. Where to with your woodworking now?
I’m currently developing a line of bespoke memorabilia boxes for veterans and emergency services, alongside select furniture commissions. Longer term, my focus is on telling more stories through sculpture.

See Joey Marsden’s Maker of the Year entry here.

Find out more about Maker of the Year Awards, presented by Hare & Forbes