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
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Joseph Silcott / The Rowley Gallery
Thanks Chris, much appreciated. These are great pictures of the work and I really like the Chuang-Tzu quote. Best Wishes, Joe.