in 2022 on display in the
National Portrait Gallery Through her quilts, Butler aims to "tell stories that may have been forgotten over time." Butler often uses
kente cloth and
African wax printed fabrics in her quilts, so her subjects are "adorned with and made up of the cloth of our ancestors." Butler's quilts both heavily incorporate African textiles a well as expand on a rich African American quilting tradition. She explains in her artist statement: Butler typically works in bright jewel tones rather than representational colors to depict skin tone. Using the Kool-Aid colors of the
Black Power art movement also serves to capture the "soul and energy" of the person Butler is depicting. While at Howard, Butler was mentored by members of
AfriCOBRA. The artist collective's bright, colorful aesthetic and aim to create positive representations of Black Americans can be found in Butler's body of work, as well.
Jackie Robinson, and
Frederick Douglass,. Butler uses a variety of patterned fabrics, which she carefully selects to reflect the subject's life, sometimes using clothing worn by the subject. Her portrait of
Nina Simone, for example, is made of cotton, silk, velvet, and netting, whereas her portrait of
Jean-Michel Basquiat is made of leather, cotton, and vintage denim. Along with her portraits of notable figures, Butler also creates pieces featuring everyday, unknown African American subjects that she bases on found photographs. She describes her fascination for her nameless subjects' unknown stories: "I feel these people; I know these stories because I have grown up with them my whole life." She strives "to bring as many of these unnamed peoples photos to the forefront" so "people will see these ordinary folks as deserving of a spotlight too." Her work,
Harlem Hellfighters, was acquired by the
Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of the
Renwick Gallery's 50th Anniversary Campaign. This work is Butler's largest quilt to date, measuring approximately 11 x 13 feet, and features nine life-sized figures. Butler has worked on commission to create a number of magazine covers, including the Fall 2020 cover of
Juxtapoz, the March 2020 cover of Time Magazine honoring
Wangari Maathai, the 2020
Time magazine "Person of the Year" image of Porche Bennett-Bey and the May/June 2021 edition of
Essence magazine.
Tarana Burke's memoir sports a cover image quilted by Butler. Additionally,
Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN)'s included Butler's work in its "Juneteenth Artist Showcase". == Exhibitions ==