Beer Can Butterflies

While I was sitting in a doctor's office, I was skimming through a home decor magazine and came across these beautiful wall sculptures. They were sculpted butterflies in the pattern of a flock. I wrote down the name of the artist so that I could look him up when I got home.

Paul Villinski is an artist who works with found objects and after finding crushed beer cans, decided to create a butterfly installation using them.

“These pieces explore themes of transformation and recovery through the metamorphosis of crushed beer cans from the streets of New York into flocks of realistically crafted butterflies.” 

Beer Can Butterflies

I used to be an art history major and remember learning about 'found objects' in contemporary art. Artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Robert Rauschenberg are known for incorporating random objects, 'readymades' into their artworks.

I think that using found objects in art is a really important subject especially today because recycling and re-using are the ways of the world now. Plus, I believe that anything can be used in art. The simple design of a beer can or the way it looks crushed can be considered art by someone out there. Paul Villanski just took the idea and ran with it, morphing his found objects into resembling beautiful things found in nature.

Artist's Website