If you’ve ever seen the movie Toy Story 4, you probably remember a character named Forky. Forky was a spork that got fished out of a trash can and, after a bit work with some pipe-cleaner and a Popsicle stick, was brought to life. Forky didn’t quite understand why he was alive. He’d been thrown away, after all. Why this second chance? Why a new lease with a different purpose? It didn’t make sense to him. Being thus confused, he spent the entire first act of the film trying to throw himself away again. Thankfully he happened to have a friend who believed in him. Otherwise, he might have missed his chance to make a little girl happy not as a plain old spork, but as a fun, silly toy.
Forky’s story is make-believe. However, that isn’t to say its roots are grounded in pure fiction. Quite the reverse. To prove it, we have artists like Matt Wilson.
Matt is a sculptor from Southern Carolina. His medium isn’t clay, or marble, or terracotta. Instead, he creates lifelike statues of birds, people, and sea creatures using the discarded remains of old cutlery. Cutlery like Forky, albeit metal rather than plastic. And like that good friend of Forky’s from the movie, Matt Wilson insists that these forgotten utensils can be bent and molded into a new purpose.
To view his work is to believe his conviction. The pieces in question, all of them, are clearly done with meticulous love for the craft. A silver-eyed bird—its belly the bowl of a spoon, its wings the closed tongs of a fork—looks ready to fly from an outstretched mannequin’s hand. A seahorse of spoons with handles curled back to resemble fins swims—or seems to swim—past a recently painted window. The back of a soup server becomes a pregnant woman’s belly. The blade of a butter-knife becomes the wing of a robin.
To view his work is to believe his conviction. The pieces in question, all of them, are clearly done with meticulous love for the craft. A silver-eyed bird—its belly the bowl of a spoon, its wings the closed tongs of a fork—looks ready to fly from an outstretched mannequin’s hand. A seahorse of spoons with handles curled back to resemble fins swims—or seems to swim—past a recently painted window. The back of a soup server becomes a pregnant woman’s belly. The blade of a butter-knife becomes the wing of a robin.
Matt Wilson, whose love for metal sculptures began way back in 2006, tells us that his art is a reflection of his own environment. He views his sculptures as a reminder of the myriad continuous life cycles that surround us daily.
Nor are utensils his only choice for the craft. Scrap iron, reclaimed wood, bone, and other salvaged material make it back to his studio for transformation into something new. But it is with metal that he seems happiest. The statues have an unmistakable look of pride at being reborn, gazing forth with beady eyes sharp as the points of their talons.
Looking at his work, one would surely think that Matt Wilson has a love for the environment. This is the absolute truth. And with his sculptures Matt not only shows us that love, but uses it for the betterment of our Earth, our times, and our appreciation for the arts.
More of his work : Instagram