Who is
Tree Lily Butcher?

Tree Lily Butcher’s work is a testament to the evocative power of collage as a medium—not merely as an aesthetic choice but as a philosophical approach to artmaking. By meticulously curating and recontextualizing vintage materials, they engage in a process of visual archaeology, uncovering forgotten fragments of the past and weaving them into compositions that are both deeply personal and universally resonant. There is a ghostly quality to their work, a sense that each piece is inhabited by echoes of previous lives, reshuffled and reborn into new configurations.

**Materiality and the Handmade in a Digital Age**

One of the most striking aspects of Butcher’s practice is their insistence on working by hand in an era where digital collage is the norm. This choice is not just nostalgic; it is a deliberate act of resistance against the ephemeral, hyper-speed nature of contemporary image production. Each cut, tear, and layering decision is an assertion of presence—both of the artist and of the materials themselves. There is a tactile intimacy to their compositions, a sense that these works have been *touched* in a way that digital images never can be.

This material specificity is significant. Vintage papers carry with them an inherent history—aged textures, faded pigments, and the ghostly presence of past owners’ hands. By repurposing these materials, Butcher does not simply collage *with* history; they collage *against* it, challenging its linearity. In their hands, the past is not a fixed record but a malleable force, capable of being rearranged, questioned, and transformed into something new.

**Themes of Identity and Ego Dissolution**

A central concern in Butcher’s work, particularly in the *Be Nobody* series, is the tension between selfhood and erasure. Inspired by Lama Marut’s philosophy of ego dissolution, this series meditates on what it means to relinquish the constructed self—to exist not as an individual but as part of a greater, interconnected whole. The collages reflect this existential inquiry through fragmented forms, obscured faces, and surreal juxtapositions that suggest a self in flux.

There is a quiet subversiveness in this approach. In an era obsessed with personal branding, where identity is increasingly commodified and performative, Butcher’s work poses a radical question: *What if we stopped trying to be somebody?* The collages do not seek to define or reinforce the self but rather to dissolve it, to blur the lines between individual and collective experience. Faces may be obscured, bodies may be fragmented, but in their place emerges a new kind of presence—one that is fluid, multifaceted, and liberated from the confines of singular identity.

**Compositional Tension: Between Order and Chaos**

Butcher’s collages possess a unique compositional sensibility, balancing a sense of organic fluidity with precise, almost surgical arrangements. The placement of each fragment feels intentional, yet there remains an element of serendipity—as if the images themselves dictate their own placement. This interplay between control and spontaneity mirrors the very nature of collage as a medium: it is both an act of destruction (cutting, tearing, disassembling) and creation (reassembling, reconstructing, reimagining).

This tension extends to their use of color, texture, and negative space. Some works exude a dreamlike, almost hallucinatory quality, where disparate images blend seamlessly into one another, creating a liminal space between reality and fantasy. Others embrace stark contrasts, forcing incongruous elements into uneasy proximity, evoking a sense of dissonance that challenges the viewer’s expectations. This variability speaks to the fluidity of meaning itself—how identity, memory, and even reality are not fixed but constantly shifting.

**Collage as a Metaphor for Existence**

At its core, Butcher’s work embodies the philosophy that life itself is a collage. We are all assemblages of past experiences, borrowed influences, inherited histories, and fleeting moments. Their art does not impose a singular interpretation but instead invites viewers to find their own connections within the fragments. Like memory, the works are incomplete, layered, and open to reinterpretation.

In this way, Butcher’s art is not just an aesthetic exercise but a deeply existential one. It asks us to reconsider the stories we tell ourselves, the identities we cling to, and the narratives we construct about who we are. By embracing the cut-and-paste nature of existence, they remind us that nothing is fixed, everything is mutable, and in that mutability lies both freedom and possibility.