Deborah Butterfield

by Annie W.

Deborah began making horses about 30 years ago using them as self-portraits to express feminists and anti-war concerns. She was encouraged by her mentor Manual Neri, who had to lock into the female form she preferred to use. Over-time, her gender and/or politics she had tried to put in her work started to matter less and less. Finally, she had formed a passion for the horse itself. When she is away from her Montana Ranch, she imagines the horses in precise perspective because she has a very clear memory. In Deborah's work, the awe and respect she has for these animals clearly shines through in her sculptures. Along with the awe and respect, each personality and their "role" they play in the lives of people. It is as if she has this sort of ex-ray vision of the horse yet you can still see the sleek bodies they poses. The positive and negative spaces lay off each other like the strokes of paint on a painting. And the horse she builds and the space she does it in is her canvas. As she creates the image in her mind, she is able to get all the characteristics that is necessary. As you can see she has become completely obsessed with the horses she has in her mind and the ones in her mind.