Eye-catching animal sculptures
Many people have a junk drawer in their home that is filled with mismatched keys, silverware, equipment, and safety pins. And while the majority of us would want to skip sorting through it, upcycling designer Matt Wilson (also known as Airtight Artwork), who is located in Carolina, would seize the opportunity. He makes lovely animal figurines out of leftover materials and metal products.
Wilson started creating statues of birds in 2017, but his collection has since grown to provide a variety of animals. Every intricate piece faithfully reproduces its real-life counterpart’s forms in metal, from a cat to a squirrel. Wilson even produced a praying mantis that resembles a robotic, far-off bug. It has six spindly legs constructed from recycled metal utensils and a head, thorax, abdomen, and wings made of silverware. Wilson told My Modern Met, “It’s a project I’ve invested a lot of effort and detail into. I worked on this bug for an entire month, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
Wilson makes some very beautiful steel creatures and bugs, but his specialty is creating sculptures of birds. Woodpeckers, blue jays, and owls are just a few of the many feathery buddies he can faithfully represent in metal. To produce the bird’s plumage, Wilson deftly welds together spoon heads and fork prongs, and he frequently utilises twisted metal wire for the bird’s talons. The gifted artist is also incredibly productive. A flock of 100 birds that Wilson released recently on one internet retailer sold out almost instantly.
Wilson’s method and technique have changed throughout the years as he has continued to create birds. I’m working on several facets of the birds at once, which enables a more unified collection, the man informs us. Additionally, Wilson has begun placing his metal artworks on wooden plaques that his buddy and fellow artisan, Jacob Kent, has made by hand. Wilson notes, “I desired the birds’ surroundings to change along with them as they did.
The theme of Wilson’s upcycled art is the value of our environment and resources. In order to create works of art that are unlike anything else people have seen while nevertheless being recognisable as being made of common materials, he explains. “I just hope that the statues would encourage people to value the basic, overlooked things from which my works are derived.”
View a few of Wilson’s animal sculptures made out of scrap steel above, and visit his webpage for additional examples from his collection.
Matt Wilson is an upcycling artist who uses leftover steel to make adorable animal figurines.
Wilson skillfully employs spoons and forks as the feathers for his bird creations.
Every intricate piece resembles a mechanical animal that might suddenly come to life.
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