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DRIFT appears to be constructed from weathered wood and found debris, though the sculpture is entirely cast in bronze. The disparate materials, shaped by prolonged exposure to natural forces—sun bleached, wind worn, and smoothed by water — were gathered from the shores of Hawaii, Iceland, and the Oregon coast. A frayed green rope defines the arc of the neck while other beach scavenged objects introduce touches of yellow, red, and green within the otherwise earth-toned sculpture.
Unified in the form of a horse, these materials suggest layers of environmental and human histories embedded in the work, reinforcing the tension between permanence and impermanence.
Metaphorically speaking, Butterfield says of this work: “I keep hoping that nature will prevail amidst all the flotsam.”