Benjamin Timpson

Rhia

Original is Butterfly wings on Glass. Print edition, pigment inkjet print, Available in two sizes: approx 40″ x 30″ unframed (52″ x 39.5″ framed)/ 70″ x 50″ unframed (83.5″ x 59″ framed), edition of 15

16"x12"x4"

2022

Metamorphosis is a portrait series of Indigenous women—survivors of violence, or those we have lost. As a descendant of the Pueblo Indians, I feel the burden of devastating statistics for murdered, missing, and abused Native American women in this country. In my compositions, I tell their stories through the symbolic nature of the butterfly, which represents a kind of rebirth through change. To create the images, I meticulously cut safe-sourced butterfly wings, into detailed mosaic-style portraits. Each picture contains tens of thousands of fragments—a powerful embodiment of how this one woman represents so many more like her.