Stone Sculptures
Perryn Butler uses a wide variety of rock: from limestone from the West of England, which allows her to make soft curves, to bluestone which is so hard that it makes her work in a very different way.
Stone is an extremely ancient material which has taken millions of years to form and takes a long time to emerge from the sculptors hand. Once carved, the work becomes timeless - it could be two thousand years old and yet look like it was made yesterday.
The Innuit believe that the stone has a spirit, and Perryn knows this to be true. She makes real sculptures from the heart and the spirit which will last for millennia.
Some of the pieces have been cast into traditional bronze in limited editions.
Musical Series (Limestone and Lead)
Everything I do feeds into my sculptures. I have sung and played music all my life and it lifts me onto a higher plane of awareness.
Pas De Deux illustrates that dance can be just as transcending as music - ballet is particularly special to me as my sister Charlotte was a Primadonna ballerina.
The instruments of music become much more important than inanimate wooden objects that make a noise; they are part of who I am. I write words and music to communicate emotion and ideas and this seeps into my sculpture. Consciously and sometimes unconsciously, there are echoes of sound in the stone, as in Cello Man.
The cubists used instruments to portray people and as I play the guitar, the process of creating Madame Guitar was a natural development for me.
I also admire the cubists for their cerebral dissecting of the human form. I deliberately used the language to go deeper and explore the relationship between music, rhythm and emotion. In Night Music, the curves and optical beat describe rhythm and the way that music is punctuated, and also the passion and energy. The instruments become lovers. There was a great deal of thought before I made this piece, but once I started carving, it came about organically.
Nature
Human
Myths and Legends
Stone Reliefs
Stone Goddesses
These stone Goddesses were a process to gain ideas for carving and bronzes. During this process, ideas evolved by arranging and rearranging the stones.
Beach Stones
