Cutlery Fauna

about Matt Wilson

Matt Wilson’s passion for creating sculptures out of metallic stuff like knives, forks or cuillères, began not so long ago, when he worked as a director of the Center de Beaux-Arts in Greenville County, South Carolina. Today, most of his birds still start with two spoons, which comprise the body. However, Matt is reluctant to disclose how exactly he bends and welds his creations together: “It’s something I’ve defended for a long time. It took so many years to get where I’m at, from those first simple birds that were just two spoons.”

Grew up in Greenville, Matt eventually pursued a drawing and painting degree at Winthrop College. But, feeling burnt out, he left school with one year to go. He was not a great student. So he headed to Charleston, where he did landscaping while beginning to explore metal sculpture as a medium. Looking for work, he applied for a job at Detyens Shipyard, Inc., in hopes that he could also hone the skill of welding for his art. It turned out to be a serendipitous choice. After a year of learning to weld and work with metal, he began making miniature ships instead of sketches, occasionally working on other projects, too. Living near the ocean means Matt has also dipped into depicting sea life.