Lepidopterae

We’ve got a windowful of butterflies to cut out and keep, captivating moments gilded and framed, an April shower of lepidoptera, caught in a dream of waking and sleeping and waking again.

I dreamed I was a butterfly, but then I awoke. Now I do not know whether I was a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am a butterfly dreaming I am a man – Chuang-tzu.

Joseph Silcott (aka Joseph Scissorhands) has been cutting a chaotic circus of butterflies and training them to fly in formation, creating ranks of copper, silver and gold wings, dancing together in rhythm.

Joe cuts them / draws them with scissors, teases them from the sheet of paper, each wing a reflection of the other, a Rorschach test, sometimes symmetrical, sometimes not, but they’re always handmade.

The Lepidopterist

Joseph Silcott / The Rowley Gallery

Frames of reference

One thought on “Lepidopterae”

  1. Thanks Chris, much appreciated. These are great pictures of the work and I really like the Chuang-Tzu quote. Best Wishes, Joe.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.