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.