ARTIST STATEMENT
Initiated in 2022, Structure Seeking Behavior is an ongoing series of drawings serving as a visual chronicle of Butterer’s interior landscape as a survivor of domestic violence. The work navigates the psychological tension between heavy, looming entities—the weight of trauma—and precise architectural lines deployed to contain and navigate.
Developed during her residency at Foundation House, this latest iteration marks a formal and psychological transition. Dense, opaque forms transmute into lighter, translucent fields. This shift toward transparency reflects an internal evolution: a release from the physical weight of the past, a recalibration of the nervous system, and an intentional turn toward light.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Butterer holds a BFA from the University of Michigan and an Ed.M. from Columbia University, Teachers College, where she served as an educator for two decades. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, with notable presentations at Lincoln Center, Atlantic Gallery, Westbeth Gallery, and Woman Made Gallery (Chicago); Galerie des Photographes (Paris); and Yamashita Gallery and the Kyoto Shibori Museum (Japan). She has been featured in publications such as Orenda Arts Journal, Quarantine Magazine, and the Womxn Artist Project, and has lectured at institutions including The Guggenheim Museum, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn College, and SLA Art Space.
© Ingrid Butterer