Well, I am super stoked to share and explore the art work of the wonderful Paul Villinski. Born in York, Maine, Paul relocated to New York City, where he has created what has been deemed, “recycled” art. Every aluminum butterfly was crafted out of a found, used beer can, which yes!, once grazed human lips. Paul explains, “My process of ‘recycling’ them into images of butterflies is a quiet physical meditation, a yoga of tin snips and files and fingers…” The cans go through their own metamorphosis; transforming what was once litter.. into a beautiful crafted piece of art. His most recently pieces, Fable and Rise, showcase the butterflies exploding from a cello and guitar, creating a visual melody. Paul describes his sculptures as, “abstract three-dimensional paintings”. Other works, such as the piece entitled “My Back Pages”,  “Revolver”  and “Diaspora”, Paul sculpting records which he has acquired over the course of thirty years. Before he transforms each record, using a scroll saw, Paul listens to it. A sort of, last eulogy to help to help the artist release the meaning of the album through his metamorphosis deconstruction. Every single one of the dozens of record-built-butterflies is unique, carved into a slightly different shape and from a different record, but each is simultaneously part of the same grander design. Please check out all of his fantastic work on his website, here.

“Some pieces develop a quirky, magic-realist quality, as if a strange child has trained the insects to perform some ritual dance we are not usually privy to. Finally, the butterflies operate symbolically, and I try to develop a conceptual unity between materials, process, and imagery: metamorphosing littered beer cans into flocks of butterflies mirrors the act of transformation and rebirth that butterflies symbolize across all cultures.” – Paul Villinski