Petite Butterfly Swarm
Embroidery stitched directly through a deconstructed luxury brand tote bag. Embroidered butterflies mounted in relief.

- 5x5x2 inches

RECYCLING LUXURY ITEMS TO CREATE UNIQUE WORKS OF ART

From the feel of superior materials, to the attention to detail placed into each product, luxury houses like Chanel, Hermès, Valentino, Dior, and Gucci have been creating beautiful products for generations. Every product purchased from these luxury brands comes wonderfully packaged in a beautiful box. Usually, there is much hesitancy to throw one of these boxes away. They are a status symbol in and of themselves so, inevitably, the boxes usually go into storage somewhere, but are eventually discarded.

Because Stephen Wilson creates many pieces using luxury fabrics like Hermès scarves, the studio becomes littered with boxes. While working on sketches one day, inspiration struck and Stephen decided to use these boxes as a canvas for his new pieces. Each box is carefully selected and turned into a work of art using embroidery, assemblage, and collage. Each box has its own characteristics and is often vintage in age. Each work is unique in its creation and everything is created from either recycled materials or items created in his studio like butterflies and embroidered patches.