What's in Your Studio, Paul Villinski?

NEW YORK—Paul Villinski is one of those artists who can take the most unpromising of materials and transform them into something rather special. His best-known pieces are probably the exquisite life-size butterfly silhouettes that he creates from discarded beer cans. Based on actual species, the butterflies are often colored, gilded, or blackened with soot, and they are presented singly or arranged in swarms.

“My work concerns itself with the metaphors and poetics of flight,” Villinsky tells ARTINFO. His creations include winged creatures, flying machines, and other winged forms. One particularly striking example is built around an abandoned wheelchair.

Villinski’s work can currently be seen in the exhibit “Metamorphosis” at Morgan Lehman Gallery in Chelsea (until October 20) and a few blocks away at Elmo restaurant and bar on Seventh Avenue through the end of October.

Villinski talked with ARTINFO about the strangest thing he keeps in his studio in Long Island City, New York—an inspiration for and diversion from his flight-centric artworks.

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“This is my paramotor,” he told us. “It’s probably a safe bet that there are not too many of these in artists’ studios in New York.”

“It’s an ultra-light, foot-launched flying machine that is used in conjunction with a parachute-like wing made of fabric. The entire aircraft fits into a car trunk and can easily be carried up the three flights of stairs to my studio. Flying it is magical—it’s like having a Vespa that levitates and can carry you a mile up into the clouds, or skim along a yard above the ground or water. It flies extremely slowly and carries enough fuel for three hours, so you can relax and really study the scene below. It’s my favorite seat to watch sunsets from.

“The sculptor Janet Nolan once said to me: ‘What’s good for the artist is good for the art.’ Having watched this consonance develop between my passion for flight and my practice as an artist, I’ve decided she was right.”