Recycled kitchen tools find new life as bird sculptures
A bird in the hand is worth two on the display wall — especially if those birds are crafted with unconventional materials. Sitting at the intersection of flatware and fowl are artist Matt Wilson’s bird sculptures made from recycled kitchen utensils and tools.
Wilson’s creations, through his company Airtight Artwork, include owls, jays, tecklenbirds ( likely named after Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg), cranes and a black-headed caique. Choice sculptures can be bought through the Airtight Artworks Etsy Store, and many are small enough to hold in your hands. (Stock is currently sold out, but will be available again in mid-February.)
“Using organic and recycled materials — bone, driftwood, scrap metal, etc., my sculptures depict continuous life cycles that consciously and unconsciously permeate our awareness,” Wilson writes on his website.
“The upcycled work I create is a testimony to the belief of conserving and appreciating our resources, so that the environment in which we live will continue to be an environment in which we desire to live.”
A native of South Carolina, Wilson sources his materials at junk shops, thrift stores and hardware retailers that are going out of business. Though his background is in drawing and painting, he transitioned from 2D to 3D art and learned to weld.
“I buy a lot of silverware from Goodwill, looking for patterns and sturdiness,” he told Charleston magazine.