In 2011 Victoria created THE BUTTER PIECE from an interest in female sexuality, the ‘invisible’ sexual responses of women and shame. In celebrating these reactions, the piece also considered how the female body is displayed, endurance and how we ‘manage’ our comfort with ourselves by engaging or disengaging with the materiality of our bodies. THE BUTTER PIECE was presented both as a live performed action and a durational work.
In 2021, Victoria began re-inhabiting the performance to see what a difference a decade has made both to her body, the context in which it is viewed and to investigate how you deal with your own archive. Live shows of this new work have taken place at CLAY, Leeds and Colchester Arts Centre.
The piece is designed to provoke conversation and you can hear some of the things audiences talked about here…
Alongside the performance, Victoria created PUSHING BUTTER, an open journal documenting the re-making of the work alongside reflections by other artists working with, or about, the body.
It includes contributions from Orrow Bell, Jade Blackstock, Gillian Dyson, Ursula Martinez and Holly Revell and is accompanied by images of THE BUTTER PIECE by Matt Rogers and Coralie Datta.
You can start reading it HERE
Photo credits @TamsinDrury & @ThatMattRogers