"Metamorphosis" is an apt name for a new exhibit in Basalt that honors murdered and abused Native American women with portraits created from real butterfly wings.
Artist Benjamin Timpson sourced the wings from sustainable butterfly pavilions.
He says he wants his portraits to show survival and strength. Each image took up to three months to complete.
"It’s almost like surgery," he said. "The whole wing itself is like an inch by two inches, and then I slowly cut small squares out of it. Then I use tweezers to affix that piece to the glass," he said.
Timpson, who is of Pueblo descent, says that “Metamorphosis” is meant to call attention to the high rates of violence against native women.
“I wanted to focus not so much on the act or what happened, but on the strength of the woman or the memory of the woman, in a positive light," he said.
He first meets with the family of his subjects, and says he's received positive responses from them about the completed works.
An opening for “Metamorphosis” will be held at the Art Base starting at 5 p.m. The show is on display through October.
