Tracey Bush

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Organic form

Winter 2018/19

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For many years Tracey made scrapbooks, collections of ephemera that could not be thrown away.  The use of scraps is a way of recycling both materials and images in a process of reconstruction.  These books have now emerged as Lepidoptera: butterflies and moths, ancient symbols of transformation.  Each moth or butterfly is hand-cut from layers of recycled papers and then sewn together using a bookbinder's pamphlet stitch.  They are then pinned out in entomological boxes.  Butterflies are cut from envelopes postmarked from around Britain or from vintage maps of the British Isles.  There are quirky links between the butterfly name and the material used.  Their poetic names are hand-written in brown ink on tiny scientific labels.  Butterflies are among the first indicators of environmental change; these collections hope to highlight their frailty and diversity, as an alternative to a collection of actual specimens.

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Tracey has made artist's books for more than twenty years, her most recent book, "Dusk", is an exploration of an A-Z of British moths.  Gothic duotone risograph drawings depict seven hand-cut wreaths through which are glimpsed some of the large British moths, sewn together in a double concertina 160 cm long.

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Tracey lives on the South Coast in the UK and her works are included in collections such as The Tate Gallery Library, The British Library (Handling Collection), The Museum of London, The British Land Company and The Yale Centre for British Art among others.

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