They crawl and they feed on rotting flesh and sinew, appearing to pulsate as they strip the skull and thorax of a small rodent. The sight of them might give a chill or turn a stomach, but it is simply nature at work.

The grubs of dermestid (or skin, hide or carrion) beetles are scavengers that feed on the carcasses of the deceased and are commonly found on roadkill or, more grimly, on abandoned corpses.

But in a 55-gallon aquarium tank on the coffee table of a South Side apartment, they are an integral part of the process through which Bill “Biilzebub” Wilson aka The Bone Collector creates his art and gives new life — and beauty — to that which is already dead.

The bone collector

Bill Wilson, who also goes by Biilzebub the Bone Collector, poses speaks about the jewelry, lamps and sculpture he creates using the bones of deceased animals.

What Mr. Wilson does is called “articulating” the skeletons of dead animals — from mice to cows, deer and lizards — posing them in natural postures, or creating jewelry or artwork. By his own admission it’s a niche pursuit and one that is met with interest if not raised eyebrows.

“Certainly not a lot of people get into this the way that I have,” he deadpanned.

A horror movie buff with Frankenstein-looking scars tattooed on his wrists and a bushy mustache and muttonchops, the 32-year-old Crawford County native came to the city 14 years ago to study industrial design with a focus on special effects at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

While working at a seasonal haunted house at Station Square 10 years ago, he added deer mandibles he’d found on a hike to enhance the menacing appearance of the costume of one of the actors. With the leftover bones, he sculpted a lamp base and was hooked after that.

The lamps, dream catchers made with cow mandibles, tables made with cow bone bases and necklaces with pendants of raccoon baculum are among his most popular items. What he doesn’t create himself, he collects in an apartment that looks like a cross between a natural history museum and the set of “The Walking Dead.”

Among his prized possessions: skeletons of a Magellanic penguin from Paraguay and a colugo (a flying lemur) from Indonesia, and the skull of a Nile crocodile.

“I just like the way they look. I think it’s interesting to know what say, a warthog, looks like underneath, what’s holding it up. I find that fascinating. The different shapes. I like to show people that something that they would normally walk by and perceive of as death can be beautiful.”

With no formal education in animal anatomy, osteology or taxidermy, Mr. Wilson is self taught through trial and error and Internet research. His work has been featured in the annual Atrocity Exhibition, a local event celebrating beautiful and grotesque oddities and performance art, and is displayed and available for sale at the Most Wanted Fine Art/Bizarre! Bazaar! Gallery in the Waterfront. He said he would like to do museum-level work if provided the opportunity.

His creations follow a four-step process. First, the animal needs to be fleshed — removing as much from the bones as possible by hand. Then it’s placed in the tank where the dermestid beetles can do their work. The bones are then whitened and cleaned in a mild chemical bath. Then he puts them back together or makes things from them.

“It’s like a jigsaw puzzle that doesn’t have interlocking pieces. You have to figure out where they belong and how to get them to stay in position,” he said. “But it’s also very relaxing. I work in a restaurant and that is stressful all the way through the shift. So, to be able to take a day off and sit and listen to some mellow music and have a glass of wine and put something back together can be relaxing.”

He is fastidious about ethical sourcing of the bones, and he follows the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. All of the animals are procured through legal means, none of the animals is on endangered or protected species lists or killed for the art.

Some he has foraged for in the woods or excavated from farms (with permission), others are purchased online or donated. Clients have commissioned specific pieces, like Alicia Kenney of the South Side, who is having Mr.Wilson articulate the skeleton of her nearly 6-foot pet iguana, Scully, which died earlier this year at age 14. Once the bones are cleaned, the articulation will take about 40 hours to complete, the most painstaking elements of which are fitting the claw bones together.

Ms. Kenney said that she had no qualms about having a beloved pet memorialized in this manner.

“It was a really easy decision. I’ve known Bill for a few years, and know about his process and what he does and thought it was interesting. I’ve always wanted a piece of his artwork, so it was a no brainer,” Ms. Kenney said. “I know that he is super respectful of the animals, and [it’s] a great way to keep her forever.

“I was very emotional when Scully passed, and he came to the house to get her and said ‘I’m very sorry, I’ll take care of her,’ almost like a mortician. He was very considerate of my feelings. I would do the same with my dogs.”

Scully will be affixed atop the log from her cage, then mounted to a wall in Ms. Kenney’s home.

“I can’t wait. I know him, he knew Scully. It was not even a thought process,” said Ms. Kenney. “I’m of the opinion that when she passes, she’s not here anymore, so that didn’t bother me.”

Mr. Wilson said that he shares Ms. Kenney’s belief on that front.

“When I first started doing it, someone asked me what I felt about the spirit of the animal. I don’t really see that as still being there. But if it is, in a way I think it would enjoy that it’s still around and being enjoyed. Maybe more than when it was alive. I kind of give new life to these creatures.”

Information: https://www.facebook.com/biilzebub