Please click on thumbnails to see the full art work.
Statement
Jo Butler
I am a mixed media and textile artist, working with textiles, collage, paint and drawing materials. My choice of medium is often related to what I can cope with on a particular day; I have Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and experience high levels of pain constantly. I use art as one tool in my pain management kit. Creating art keeps me going, supports my mental health, and gives structure to my day.
I only really started to explore art in 2019 so I’m very early in my artistic journey. I’m inspired by a variety of subjects; recently I’ve been focusing on my interaction with the world and exploring my thoughts around my disability. I enjoy the process of making and developing different marks that help to investigate and explain the impact of pain, both physically and mentally.
The works included in ‘Shapes and Patterns in Creativity’ are part of a series of 100 small works on the theme of “Internal Landscapes”. Based around a silhouette of a head, each one is an expression of the day it was created. Together they portray a fluctuating and graphic depiction of how I experience my disability and its myriad effects on my life.
Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/jo1eds/
@jo1eds