31 July - 24 August

feltgrad award 2024

BACK GALLERY

Zoe Butters
Place of Residence 

My practice consists of playful interventions, using familiar found materials and objects that I can transform to exude a sense of absurd uncanniness. By using homely materials a sense of familiarity washes over the installation, however with interventions I can create a dream-like world that can feel a little strange. 

For this installation, I have filmed with a family within their own home. Experimenting with images of fun and play from a childlike lens, where everything is magical. Thinking about play and magical elements, I refer back to stories like Alice and Wonderland and Matilda as inspiration. 

My work is full of humour, to remind us how weird every family is, and seemingly normal from the outside. I play with superimposition so that the outside and in become conflated.

The small space of the installation invites the possibility of viewers bumping into each other and interacting, thereby creating further opportunities for absurdity and silly encounters. I like to make installations for viewers to engage with, therefore becoming apart of the artwork. The cubby house build is constructed with that in mind, further iterating this idea, by having a child in the ceiling interacting with us as we enter the build. 

Artist Bio

Zoe Butters is an emerging visual artist living and working on Kaurna land. Zoe works across drawing, sculptural intervention, photography/video and installation. Her playful interventions exude a sense of absurd uncanniness. Her practice has a focus on viewer engagement, and considers the themes of memory within her work. 

Zoe completed her Bachelor of Visual Art degree from Adelaide Central School of Art in 2023, and currently works at the Art Gallery of South Australia as a Public Programs officer. She is a 2023 recipient of the FELTspace graduate Award with a mentorship with Leigh Robb, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Instagram: @zoebbutters