Tom Butterworth

SEDIMENT

Born on Guringai Land / Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Tom Butterworth is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice is heavily influenced by the natural environment, its materials and processes.

Predominantly working with sandstone, Butterworth’s works are responsive to the layered forms of rock from which they emerge, channeling his expertise in woodworking into stone to create one of a kind, sustainable and functional vessels of the Earth itself.

Each piece of stone carries its own intrinsic beauty and form which Butterworth intuitively and reverently responds to, exploring his connection to the land as a listener, collaborator and storyteller.

By surrendering to the fluid, idiosyncratic history of each piece, he sinks himself deeper into time and space – harnessing a lyrical spirit that moves in graceful, ecocentric harmony with his surrounding environment. Butterworth’s practice is guided by an excitement that feels both ancient and new. As he puts it, ‘humans have been sculpting since say dot’ – and although his practice is part of that timeless continuum, his work is guided by the pulse of nature itself.

Through immersing himself into the exterior, Butterworth honours the beauty of the natural world, using ready-made materials to offer imagination, carry feeling, and transfer the past into the present. Each piece is a dialogue between existing forms and new possibilities, to be completely cherished with respect for generations.

Butterworth’s latest collection, Sediment, reflects the slow poetry of stone. This collection is a push beyond comfort, embracing expansion and a deeper trust in the unknown. Celebrated for his work with sandstone, Butterworth continues to reimagine mediums, blending pigments derived from his sculpting process with natural oils, which are then applied to canvas.

His latest exhibition expands beyond the visual, incorporating live contemporary dance and immersive live music of retro and contemporary sounds, to create a shared moment where movement, sound, and material coalesce. Each work in Sediment is a relic of Mother Earth, sculpted into fruition by Butterworth’s unwavering intuition, patience and kind presence.

Words by Hayley Biddulph

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