CASSIE BUTCHER

Emerging artist Cassie Butcher found her voice early. Butcher received a degree from Berea College in psychology and ceramics. Upon graduating she attended Penland School of Craft in North Carolina and then received a two-year residence at Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts. She attended the University of Florida for post-baccalaureate studies in Ceramics.

Fueled by her interest in human relationships that stemmed from her degree in psychology, Butcher began making figurative work. Her work did not follow the traditional accurate anatomical depiction, however; it took a more psychological bent.

Butcher's ceramic figurative sculptures, called Souls, are stripped of all the exterior human trappings and traces. What is left is a simple form. “I wanted to represent people without bias – no rich/poor, fat/skinny, beautiful/ugly, smart or not," says Butcher. "What is left is the soul – our authentic self.”

Butcher keeps the form so simple that she creates her own world – a quiet realm of souls. By changing color, patterns and textures, she creates individual souls and a different reality. If we go into this reality, we can find souls that we know or wish we knew; we can connect.

“I use the word ‘souls’ to describe the figures that I make because I feel it touches on the essence of who everyone is. It does not indicate who we are on our physical surface or who we are in our circumstances, but who we really are. Sculpting in this style connects people on the deepest aspects of life. I want my work to have a therapeutic and relatable feel to it that draws the viewer in to empathize with it.”