T. I. F. Stories
By Tatsumi Shinoda (Selection Director for Tokyo International Forum Artwork)
Artworks Gathered in “Ship of Diversity” 13
Deborah Butterfield
After I opened a box and took out a sculpture at a warehouse, I thought straw or something similar was matted at the bottom.
When viewing a collection, I always have a feeling about “only one particular” sculpture. If you answer, “This is the only one among horse sculptures and representational sculptures,” you have a good sense. If you answer, it is a work of “naturalism,” I’ll give you full marks. As I mistakenly thought straw was matted in the box, the work is really horse-like and it automatically made me recall naturalism.
In other words, I can say her works are the result of emphasizing nature. There are no other sculptors like Butterfield who lavishes such affection on horses. She lives in Hawaii, spends all her time with horses and only makes sculptures of horses.
Among arts of masculine horses, a painting of Napoleon on a white horse standing on its hind legs is famous. Butterfield’s horses, on the other hand, are all gentle. They are silent. Her horses are full of sensitive gentleness, reminding me of the eyes of my close friends.
Wait a minute. Doesn’t she make her horses by connecting pieces of scrap iron?
Nostalgia for nature and solitude in urban areas of an innocent life who wanders away from the hustle and bustle. The 1950’s beat generation tried to express this nostalgia in simple words. Butterfield’s horses surely have such nostalgia.
Scrap iron pieces express the broken dreams of cities and the horses express nostalgia for nature. Because there are failures and nostalgia, the horse is gentle and silent.
I think the reason why her sculptures continue to live beyond the sensitivities of all ages is because of her affection and friendliness toward horses. There is something in her works that convinces me of this.
Combining scrap car pieces is like picking up the pieces of city dreams. The work is combined with iron pieces, but how can she make me feel that it is recapturing the details of a horse?
It may be because of her close observation of horses and the power of her strong will. Strong will means patience to perseveringly look for pieces which suit the detail. The sensitivity of cities is hard. The nostalgia for nature is even lyrical. Her works may suit both.
From Butterfield’s silent horse, hard lyricism and pieces of words are gently speaking to you.
| Location: Lounge on 4F, D Block |
“Ship of Diversity” = Artwork Collection Concept of the Tokyo International Forum
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