Bisa Butler

Bisa Butler Is Back!

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I’ve written about Bisa Butler’s fibre art before. I came across a new Colossal piece today about her latest work.

Butler’s work is simply amazing with texture and depth and brilliant use of fabrics and stitching…

I don’t come close, I have to say.

Her pieces are large, each must take quite a bit of time to execute. I wish I had an opportunity to see them in person. Not going to happen. My travel days are pretty much over. But if you ever get a chance to see her work, jump at it!

Harnessing the power of empathy, Bisa Butler presents a tender, evocative suite of new works in her current exhibition, Hold Me Close at Jeffrey Deitch. The artist is known for her chromatic, multi-patterned quilted artworks exploring Black history, identity, and craft traditions. Her elaborate pieces combine materials like printed cotton, silk, sequins, beads, and velvet to create both large-scale tapestries and intimate vignettes.

Bisa Butler’s Amazing Textile Portraits

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Detail from “If I Ruled The World, Imagine That” – Bisa Butler

Carefully examine the work and the decisions in this example of Bisa Butler’s textile art. [Detail of “If I Ruled The World, Imagine That” (2022), cotton, silk, wool, metallic brocade, and velvet, quilted and appliquéd, 102 x 51 inches].

This complete piece is large 102″ x 51″ – the width of a king size bedspread and 2/3 the height. This portrait is one section of it and still you can see how amazing her decisions are regarding colour pattern and background!

As much as I enjoy creating image wall art, I can’t begin to think in the manner and scale that Butler does – notice the roller skates on the pants, the hair, and glasses frames, the shadowing on the vest, the detail on his hat. Her wild choices of fabric, her amazingly done appliqué work, the juxtaposition of patterns are simply wonderful. My works are small – hers are massive!

I’ve shared her work before. Here’s another link to Bisa Butler. It’s worth a few minutes to have a look.