Valissa Butterworth
CV
Bio
Contact
Statement
Statement
Located in regional Victoria, Australia, I map energetic exchanges in space using using Colour, New materialism and Quantum science theories Specifically Entanglement, particles sharing the same fate across time/space, and Superposition, a unified field of possibility and connection. I do this with materials to find new spaces to rest my mind in a world full of documented things. I want to see the unseen. In becoming part of the experiment we engage our curiosity and stretch our capacity to encounter outcomes beyond our understanding.Using materials that are both liquid and solid, occupying two states simultaneously, resin, liquid clay, wax, bread and paint, I capture unseen energy in the shift from unstable to solid. Potential. Spaces are pulled from inside solid objects and exposed in porcelain with vivid colour, others are caught in solid blocks of resin carving space from chemical reactivity, charting energy in motion. The use of bread connects works to early civilization, political and religious metaphors as the body of Christ, it becomes the space between what is and what could be, a powerful energetic force of belief.Coloured bloated resin forms, folding and consuming themselves, reference Aldous Huxley’s ‘colour at large’ theory. They depict unbound slivers of our sanitized colour perceptions. Thick resin layers contain random abstract smears of colour, floating, unhinged, like incomplete thoughts or scars from another unrealised outcome. Remnants, memories, possibilities. Imbedded Light and shadow connects the work to place and lends to the unstable chaos, illuminating the unseeable nature of entanglement. Multiple works are created from a single surface, creating a physical representation of entanglement theory, the shared fate of linked particles.Bio
Residing in North East Victoria, Australia Valissa Butterworth maps energetic space using Quantum Science, New Materialism and Colour theories using transformational materials in conjunction with Vivid colour and light. She designs experimental works to capture energetic shifts in space, projecting them back to us to create experiential outcomes.
Shortlisted for the VAA Art 500 International in 2025 and 2023 Percival portrait prize, group and solo exhibitions locally and internationally with various works documented in ‘Digital Artisans’ by Thames and Hudson, Valissa established a career in Lighting and object design that includes numerous shortlists and awards for excellence across ceramics and glass before completing a Masters in Fine art in 2021. Post MFA education programs with the Contemporary Art academy in London continue to expand her thinking.
CV
Valissa Butterworth
b.1976, Australia
studio. Wangandary, Victoria. Australia 3678
Qualifications
Contemporary Art Academy development programs. London UK. 2023-25 MFA. R.M.I.T. Melbourne. Victoria AUSTRALIA. 2019-2021 BA. R.M.I.T. Melbourne. Victoria AUSTRALIA. 2009-2010 Diploma of Art – Ceramics. Holmesglen Institute. Victoria AUSTRALIA. 2006-2008
Solo Exhibitions
2021 ‘Sensuous Materiality’ Wangaratta Regional Art Gallery. Wangaratta. Victoria AUSTRALIA
Group Exhibitions
2026 Circum/stance. Edinburgh. Scotland UK 2025 Common ground collective. London UK 2024 Contemporary Art Academy, Online, London UK 2021 MA Graduate exhibition. RMIT Melbourne, Victoria AUSTRALIA 2018 Fringe festival. Abbotsford Convent. Melbourne, Victoria AUSTRALIA 2018 How much can a Koala Bear. Abbotsford Convent. Melbourne, Victoria AUSTRALIA 2017 Melbourne in Design, Victoria AUSTRALIA 2016 Denfair. Melbourne, Victoria AUSTRALIA 2015 Sydney In Design. Sydney, NSW AUSTRALIA 2015 London Design Fair, Australian Pavilion. London UK 2010 RMIT Graduate Exhibition, Carbon Black. Melbourne, Victoria AUSTRALIA 2009 Stirrings. Skepsi Gallery. Melbourne, Victoria AUSTRALIA 2008 Fresh – Craft Victoria. Finalist, Melbourne, Victoria AUSTRALIA
Collections
Bendigo Art Gallery. Donated by private collector. Bendigo, Victoria AUSTRALIA Holmesglen Institute Collection. Victoria AUSTRALIA
Private collections
Local, National and International collections. Ceramics, glass, objects.
Awards
2025 Shortlisted, VAA Art500 International 2025, UK 2022 Shortlisted, Percival Photographic Portrait Prize. Townsville, Queensland AUSTRALIA 2016 Finalist, VIVID Design Competition. Melbourne, Victoria AUSTRALIA 2015 Shortlisted, Launchpad Design Awards. Sydney, NSW AUSTRALIA 2015 Finalist, VIVID Design Competition. Melbourne, Victoria AUSTRALIA 2013 Finalist, Driven x Design Awards. Melbourne, Victoria AUSTRALIA 2008 Finalist, Fresh – Craft Victoria. Finalist, Melbourne, Victoria AUSTRALIA
Press/Publications
Lucy Johnston, Digital Handmade, Craftsmanship in the New Industrial Revolution. Thames and Hudson, London UK 2015 and 2017 update. p. 38-41. Natalie Bannister, The Creatives Valissa Butterworth, Queensland Homes Magazine, Autumn 2013, p. 30
