"I try to practice "simple alchemy," attempting to give these cast-off, "worthless" objects surprising new identities, to infuse their stories with new layers of meaning. The beauty that interests me most comes through the struggle to bring things from a place of loss into a new life - to insist on the possibility of transformation." -Paul Villinski
In life and art, Paul Villinski also explores flight. As a glider pilot, he sails the open sky. As an artist, he coaxes clouds of aluminum butterflies into a lyrical orbit. With a lifelong concern for environmental issues, Villinski repurposes discarded materials into art objects- beer and soda cans, vinyl records, musical instruments, shipping pallets- to surprising and poetic ends. He painstakingly and lovingly guides these mundane materials into flight.
Born in York, Maine in 1960, and educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, followed by the Massachusetts College of Art and the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, he then moved to New York City in the early 1980s. Villinski is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant and has been an artist-in-residence at many prestigious institutions, including Wyoming’s Ucross Foundation. His works hang in both private and public collections including The McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas; The Museum of Arts and Design, New York; Miami International Airport, Florida; in addition he recently completed a major commissioned piece for the New York City Percent for Art Program, titled, “SkyCycles”.