“Lay Bare My Arms at Gallery Wendi Norris combines collage and text with traditional South Asian miniature painting to create energetic works that radiate delicate beauty, underpinned by a pervasive threat of violence.” Bridget Quinn, Hyperallergic
In Lay Bare My Arms, Butt engages the dual meaning of the word ‘arms’: a mother’s protective embrace or artillery that could rip through it. The right to bear arms intertwines with the vulnerability of bearing one’s arms. Language extracted from the second amendment fills, swarms, and diffuses across each piece. English text reading “security,” “right,” “militia,” “free state,” and “people” paired with the Urdu words “children,” “future,” “people,” and “innocent” creates a contemplative vocabulary that explores the nuances of securities and protections, defense and gun violence.
The Walking Iris appears in each of the works, an allegory of a life lived short. Grown in Butt’s home garden, the Walking Iris is nourished, nurtured, watered, and cared for until a tender bud appears. This bud then blooms into a flower that opens for only one day. In her series, Butt draws upon the sustained care for, and ephemera of, this precious bloom.
Lay Bare My Arms comprises 7 pieces; Guardians of Safe Heavens, Arsenal of Ambiguity, Contours of Fragility, Tearful Harvests, Beauty and the Beasts, Scarlet Masquerade, and The Floral Offerings. The series was three years in the making and made its debut exhibition in November 2023 at Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco.
Deama Khader. March 2025.
