Deborah Butterfield Otter Analysis

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Deborah Butterfield's "Otter" (2014) horse sculpture expresses a realistic display of beauty and craftsmanship because of its life-size image, the symbol of strength and the spirit it exerts where it is displayed at the Art Hotel in Denver, Colorado. "Otter" is a massive horse, standing at the entrance of the hotel, gazing toward the patio, looking as if it is going to trot right out the patio door. Deborah, born in San Deigo, California now lives in Montana and Hawaii. Montana and Hawaii have provided Deborah with the resources to create numerous horse sculptures, beginning with natural twigs and stems from the area. These tree stem creations are then constructed into free-standing, life-size bronze sculptures. The artist says, "I first used the horse images as a metaphorical substitute for myself-it was a way of doing a self-portrait one step removed from the specificity of Deborah Butterfield".
Sculpturing is all about expression, as the image form has depth as well as width and height; three-dimensional display. Deborah's innovative and intellectual ideas are seen in the horse with its pose and energy; alert and ready to react to whatever comes its way. The form is organized to create the image; each branch represents a part of the horse's physique. It appears as though the horse is made of tree branches and twigs, however, Deborah actually does use branch material for the horse, but then completes the sculpture by casting each element in bronze; creating this life size beast. This gives the sculpture a very convincing effect that the image is made of wood branches. Because of the bronze element, it weighs up to 2,000 pounds, which shows the strength of the

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