Darbyshire has been framing for Damien Hirst since 1995. Hirst is well known for pushing the limits of art, and his work often demands innovative framing solutions. Besides the top-end framing projects, Darbyshire has fabricated a number of Hirst's medicine cabinets, as well supplying day-to-day framing for drawings, prints, collages etc.

Since 1990 Hirst has been producing butterfly paintings in various sizes and a number of different shapes such as circle, oval and love hearts.

In keeping with the minimal style of Hirst's work, Darbyshire have created a series of clean-lined Perspex box frames. Each frame is fitted with an aerated base tray containing camphor crystals to protect the butterflies from insect damage. As the shapes of the butterfly paintings have become more complex so have the production methods. For instance, the heart shaped frames are created from a 6mm aluminium sheet formed around a template, while the oval frames use a combination of moulded ply and formed aluminium sheet. For the circle butterfly series Darbyshire fabricated 2m diameter circular frames and more recently 3m high box frames incorporating mirrors set in both vertical uprights.
© The Artists Courtesy Jay Jopling / White Cube ( London )

back