Photo: Nevada Museum of Art
poetic lyricism of the west, you are horse
the sculptural art of Deborah Butterfield
sweeping epic, primal presence
powerful yet vulnerable
masterful mustang
formed of branches, twigs and bark
fragile ambiguity
formed into a story told for the ages
twisting, tying sculptures
reconstructing deconstructed life
now cast in molten bronze, applied patina
retelling stories of vast openness
encroached and threatened
nobility woven from the past
reminders for the future.
Written in response to Abhra’s prompt at dVerse poetics where we are invited to dip into history. I’ve chosen Deborah Butterfield, a sculptural artist from Montana, who uses found articles to fashion the powerful horse, a symbol of the West. Today in Nevada, where I call home, the mustang still roams free, though in lesser numbers. There is much controversy surrounding round-ups by the Bureau of Land Management. When we first moved here in 1993, wild horses came down into neighborhoods to the East of town to graze. We have one of Butterfield’s sculptures here at the Nevada Museum of Art. A few years ago, when I was still a docent, we had an exhibit of her work. The largest gallery was overtaken by a magnificent stampede of equine sculpture. I encourage you to read more about the process this artist uses in this YouTube Video Here
Photo: honolulumuseumofart
I used a sort of erasure form of poetry, borrowing words from an exquisitely-penned article in the Seattle Post Intelligencer (1998-2003) written by Judy Wagonfeld.
Victoria C. Slotto, Author 