Carl Little – Encounter: Mark Butler and the 100 Day Project

While touring England in April, my wife and I stopped in at the Mill Bridge Gallery in Skipton. Housed in one of the oldest dwellings in this market town in North Yorkshire, the gallery specializes in photography and sculpture and hosts an artist in residence.

As luck would have it, the current resident artist, sculptor Mark Butler, was present, taking his weekly Friday turn on the second floor of the gallery. We were immediately drawn to his work, in particular his “100 Day Project” where he created small sculptures inspired by the drawings of microscopic organisms by the German zoologist Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919).

We greeted Butler and had a brief exchange in which he explained his work. We were especially intrigued by his Instagram outreach in which he solicited titles from followers for his Haeckel-inspired pieces. I returned to Maine excited by this encounter and this project—and with a desire to let other folks know about it. I subsequently reached out to Butler via email to learn more about him and his art. The following bio and interview have been lightly edited.

Mark Butler was born in Manchester. His education followed a scientific route to a degree in Chemical Engineering. He later completed an honors degree in Creative Arts by distance learning at the University of Creative Arts in 2022.

Butler was interested in landscape photography from school age and kept that up “in the background.” He started to exhibit his work in 2006, culminating in a touring exhibition in 2011–13 and a coffee table book he collaborated on with his sister Sarah, Working the View: Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Wanting to explore other creative avenues, Butler signed up for a distance learning course which he completed over the next ten years. He started with drawing and printmaking and eventually discovered sculpture. A week-long bronze casting course at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park took him through the process, from creating the wax form to patinating the final work. He was hooked. He did a week’s work experience with a foundry, a day’s advice session from another foundry owner, and worked out the rest on his own.

While tutors from his distance learning course helped guide his thinking in terms of the meaning of his work and what he was trying to achieve, Butler was left to figure out the practical side of sculpting. “It was hard at times to remain motivated to keep going with the course without the support of fellow students,” Butler noted, adding, “but I’m glad I persisted to the end. I feel I have developed a distinctive voice with my art that is unlike anyone else’s.”

CL: What prompted you to take on the “100 Day Project”? What led up to it?

MB: The combination of a number of things! A fellow artist, ceramicist Anna Whitehouse (www.anna-whitehouse.co.uk/), did an 100-day project in 2018 and I thought at the time what a good idea it was and that I should do something similar.

In 2021, I was working in IT with sculpting as a sideline, but I decided to devote myself full time to my artwork. This project became the start of that, with the initial pieces being created whilst I was still working in IT. The finishing off and touring exhibition came after I had left.

I did the project at the start of the year, from 1 January 2022, every day for the next 100 days. I always find winter to be a slow period, with less inspiration as well as less inclination to venture into the cold workshop! This project gave me no excuse to slow down over this period which worked well for me.

CL: What drew you to Haeckel’s images?

MB: I am fascinated by microscopic images, the forms and textures we cannot see with the naked eye. I discovered Antony van Leeuwenhoek, known as “the father of microbiology,” and produced some work based on his drawings and then looked at Haeckel. His drawings of what he saw through a microscope are incredible; it is no wonder his Art Forms in Nature went on to influence the Art Nouveau movement. He mixed art and science in a way I admire and hope to replicate.

Taschen produced a 704-page book on Haeckel’s work, The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel, which I bought for this project. I thought that there would be no danger of running out of inspiration to complete the “100 Day Project” using this book.

CL: When you posted your pieces on Instagram, did you include the Haeckel original?

MB: No, I deliberately avoided doing so. I wanted to see what other people saw in the forms I had created using his work as inspiration. I used Instagram to gather words to go with the finished pieces; what they inspired people to write was really interesting. That collaboration provided another way of looking at the work, which produced a more compelling outcome.

CL: When I saw the pieces in the gallery, they were arranged in grids on the wall. Is there a particular order to these arrangements?

MB: When they were exhibited in full, these grids showed the pieces in numbered order, from 1 through 100. I used a grid form and labelled each piece with the Latin name of the organism Haeckel drew, placing the labels in brass drawer holders. I wanted to give the feeling of a museum collection and keep that link between art and science.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CL: Where do you do your casting?

MB: In my back garden! Discovering that was possible during the casting course was amazing. I could never afford to experiment as I have if I had to send my work off to be cast at a foundry. I now often deliberately cast in a way that introduces chance into the process, which would not be possible if I didn’t do it myself. I also wouldn’t have discovered the processes I now use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CL: Is there a particular step in your process that is especially satisfying? That is especially challenging?

MB: The most satisfying is when the piece comes together and is as good as or better than I expected. I usually have a fairly clear idea of what I am working towards which involves several sections being worked on independently and only coming together when they are all ready. Some of those sections may also have chance playing a part in how they appear. Most of them take a long time from conception to completion.

The most challenging aspect is often the problem-solving process: how to translate the image of the idea I have in my head into reality, how to construct the original form, or turn it into wax, or fix it together after it has been cast. I often find walking puts me into the right frame of mind to solve problems like this, and I make sure to include that activity in my creative process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CL: What are you working on now?

MB: I am building on the collaborative process with writers that started with my “100 Day Project.” In my new project I am commissioning work from writers, including award-winning poets and novelists, focusing on local United Kingdom species which are at threat of extinction. Through research and discussion with the writers, I will be creating a sculptural piece to accompany each text and envisage that many of the texts will be incorporated into the sculptural work. I am currently lining up exhibition venues for this project for late 2026–27.

The combination of the two mediums will engage viewers and build an emotional connection with the work and the species which inspired it. Despite the dire outlook for some of these species, the work will seek to bring hope for their survival. I want people to come away from the exhibitions with knowledge about the threats these species face and a desire to do something about it.

Environmental issues are close to my heart, and I am also trying to make my processes as environmentally friendly as possible. I am currently experimenting with making my own bronze from scrap copper, using electricity to cast rather than propane gas, and using recycled materials where possible.

CL: This article will appear in Maine Arts Journal, publication of the Union of Maine Visual Artists, a statewide organization that serves as an advocate and champion for artists. Do you have a similar organization in your part of England?

MB: I am on the committee of a few organizations locally that help artists. North Yorkshire Open Studios runs two events each year as well as some associated exhibitions. Leeds Fine Artists organizes exhibitions throughout the year in a variety of locations.

[You can learn more about Butler’s work and find videos of him demonstrating the various stages of casting on his website.]