ABOUT

Sally Butcher is an artist, lecturer, researcher and (m)other in Birmingham, UK. Her interdisciplinary practice engages with domestic, maternal, and sexualised spheres of female subjectivity and embodiment. Embracing her practice as research, she employs a theoretical and critical focus which also fuels her teaching. She is currently pursuing an AHRC funded PhD, "(In) Fertile Embodiment: Revealing the Invisibility of Infertility between the Medical and the Maternal through Feminist Art Practice", at The School of Art & Cultural Studies, Birmingham City University, and The Centre for Reproduction Research, De Montfort University.

Her work has been exhibited in juried shows nationally and internationally and is held in public and private collections. Her Arts Council funded project: ‘Re.conceive: Infertility in the Maternal Visual Arts’ (20-21) saw her work feature in Elephant Magazine, Maternal Art magazine, Mothers Who Make, Artist Mother Podcast, Female Photographers, Procreate Project, Coventry Biennial, and shortlisted for Jerwood Photoworks Award 2021 and Brixton Art Prize 2022. Her peer-reviewed essays are to be published in the anthology ‘An Artist and A Mother’ and in ‘The ART of Infertility: An Anthology of Patient Narrative and Art", in 2023.



AWARDS/GRANTS
2024 (Recipient) AHRC M4C Placement Funding for Developing Researchers at Wellcome Collection, UK
2023 (Recipient) AHRC M4C Research Development Fund for (In) Fertile Embodiment at "Reproductive Landscapes" Museum of Motherhood, US
2022-26 (Recipient) AHRC Doctoral Studentship Award: full funding for PhD with Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership
2022 (Shortlisted) Brixton Art Prize
2021 (Shortlisted) Jerwood Photoworks Award
2021-22 (Recipient) ACE Grant 'Develop Your Creative Practice' Award: funding grant for re.conceive project Award
2004 (Recipient) AHRC Masters Scholarship Award: full funding for MA Cultural Studies


EDUCATION
2022-2026 PhD Fine Art, Birmingham School of Art, Media & Cultural Studies, Birmingham City University & Centre for Reproduction Research, De Montfort University
2022-2023 PGCERT in Research Practice, Birmingham City University - Distinction
2008-2009 PGCE Art & Design, Birmingham City University
2004-2005 MA Cultural Studies, University of Lancaster - Distinction
2001-2002 BA Studio Arts, University of California, Irvine, USA - GPA 4.0 (1 year EAP program)
1999-2003 BA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Leeds - Class 1:1


TEACHING

2020-2022 Lead Tutor for British Art Show 9, Arts Connect / Wolverhampton University / Wolverhampton Gallery
2011-2022 Lecturer in Fine Art & Drawing, Birmingham Metropolitan College
      - Course Director Foundation Diploma
      - Module Leader HND Fine Art: Head of Fine Arts Practice; Printmaking; Lens Based Processes
2010-11 Lecturer in Art & Design, Cadbury College, Birmingham (part-time)
2010-11 Artist Tutor in Art & Design, mac, Birmingham (part-time)


EXHIBITIONS
2023 Naissance, curated by Hettie Judah UNIT London, June, (online) UK
2023 Cut, Torn & Mended, Spilt Milk Gallery, May-Aug, (online), UK
2023 Reproduce, CASS Arts with AIR Gallery and Procreate Project, Apr-May, Manchester, UK
2023 Coventry Open, Herbert Gallery, Mar-May, Coventry, UK
2023 Artist / Parent, AIR Gallery, Feb-Mar, Altringham, UK
2023 Maternal Perspectives, Jan-Feb, Lake Forest University, Illinois, US
2023 Mothers Who Make, University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, Jan-Apr, Coventry, UK
2022 Brixton Art Prize, July, The Department Store, London, UK
2022 (Re)Production: Parenthood and The Art World, June-Jul, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, UK
2022 West Midlands Open, May-Sept, The New Art Gallery Walsall, UK
2022 Twenty Twenty Collection, Jan-Aug, The New Art Gallery Walsall, UK
2021 I Want Your Drawing! 3 of Obsessions, 5-12 Sept, Nuevo Gallery, Madrid, Spain
2021 Petri Dish Project, 17-22 July, Tebbs Gallery, London, UK
2021 Ikon for Artists, 17-31 May, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK
2021 Maternochronics, Maternal Exhaustion in the time of the Pandemic, May, Indiana, USA (online)
2021 If Not Now, When? 8 March - 11 April, Spilt Milk Gallery, Edinburgh, UK (online)
2021 Healing Chaos, 20 Jan - 1 March, Ladies Drawing Club, St Petersburg, Russia (online)
2020 You are not wonderful just because you are a Mother, 14 Dec-14 Feb, Artist/Mother Podcast, Indiana, USA (online)
2020 Red, 5 Oct-9 Nov, Rooftop Arts Centre, Corby, UK (online)
2019 Summer Camp, 27 Aug-6 Sept, EOP, Eastside Projects, Birmingham, UK
2018 Insights, 26 May - 3 June, International New School Gallery, Birmingham, UK
2015 Game Over, 28 April-24 July, The Coffin Works, Birmingham, UK
2014 Beforma, 3 Oct -1 Nov, Stryx, Birmingham, UK
2014 Print Biennial, 16 July-23 August, Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Birmingham, UK
2014 Pen, 15 May-15 June, The Pen Room, Birmingham, UK
2012 Invasion, 22-30 Sept, A.E. Harris, Birmingham, UK
2012 Outlined, 27 April-19 May, Minerva Works, Birmingham, UK
2010 Blacked Out, 19-28 Aug, Arch 897, London Bridge, London, UK
2010 North Worcestershire Open, 6 May-13 June, Artix, Bromsgrove, UK
2010 Worcester Works, 24 April-26 June, PITT/WAW, Worcester, UK
2009 Print Now (shortlisted), Jan 2010, Bearspace Gallery, London Art Fair, UK
2009 Arts Fest, 11-13 Sept, Birmingham, UK
2008 Electric Eclectic, 10-17 Feb, Custard Factory, Birmingham, UK
2007 Identity Parade, 20-25 Feb, Custard Factory, Birmingham, UK


RESIDENCIES
2024 “Reflective Collections” Creative Researcher Residency at Wellcome Collection, (AHRC funded), London, UK (6 months)
2023 "Inside Out Festival" Researcher Residency at PGR Studio, BCU, Birmingham, UK (2 months)


PROJECTS
2024 (lead) FORTHCOMING “Experiences of research: developing a reflective collections-based event for emerging researchers” at Wellcome Collection, (AHRC funded), London, UK
2023 (co-lead) Maternal Bodies Symposium by Maternal Bodies Network, (AHRC funded), University of Birmingham, UK
2023 (contrib) The Procreate Project (PCP) Archive, The Procreate Project, UK
2022-23 (collab) The Maternal Spectrum, The Other Mother Project Zine, UK
2022 (contrib) Maternal Art Manifesto, UK
2022 (contrib) BAS9 Young Persons' Showcase, Lead Tutor, University of Wolverhampton School of Art & Wolverhampton Gallery, UK
2021-22 (lead) re.conceive: Investigating the Invisibility of Infertility in the Visual Arts, ACE Funded, UK & USA
2021 (contrib) The Mothers: Life In Lockdown, UK
2021 (contrib) First-trimester Project, Extinction Rebellion Psychologists, UK
2021 (contrib) Pieced Together: celebrating community and identity with Artist/Mothers, Artist Mother Podcast, Indiana, USA
2019-21 (contrib) Remaking the Human Body, Dr Josie Hamper, Queen Mary, University of London
2019 (collab) Performing the Maternal: Bodies, Haptic Practices and Ethics, Maud Lannen PhD, Goldsmiths College, University of London


PUBLICATIONS
2024 FORTHCOMING "Sending baby dust to you all" in Studies in the Maternal, MAMSIE (essay/image) (peer reviewed)
2023 "Uncovered Covers VII" in The Dreaming, Mothers Who Make Zine with Coventry Biennial (image)
2023 "Torn II" in Cut, Torn & Mended zine, Spilt Milk Gallery (image)
2023 "Ma - Reframing the Representation of the Maternal Subject in the (Negative) Space of (M)otherhood" in An Artist and A Mother, Demeter Press (essay/image) (peer reviewed)
2023 "Infertilities: A Curation",, edited by Maria Novotny, Robin Silbergleid, Elizabeth Walker, Wayne State University Press(writing/image) (peer reviewed)
2021 "Torn and Adorned" in Magazín iLeGaLiT, July, Slovakia (image)
2021 "Reconceive Invisibilities" in Maternal Art, June, UK (writing)
2021 "Concealed and Revealed" in Square Magazine, April, France (image)
2020 "Silent Maternal" in Mothers Who Make Zine, February, Coventry (image)
2010 "Skin Tight", essay in Haptic Visions, Tangible Images by Isil Onol PhD, University of Huddersfield (essay)


LECTURES/TALKS/CONFERENCE PAPERS
2023 'Revealing the Invisibility of Infertility between the Medical and the Maternal in Feminist Art Practice', Broadly Conceived Conference, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
2023 '(In) Fertile Languages', Maternal Bodies Symposium, University of Birmingham, UK
2023 'UN-BECOMING', live in conversation with Hettie Judah, panel talk about Naissance exhibition at UNIT London
2023 '(In) Fertile Embodiment', "Reproductive Landscapes", Museum of Motherhood Annual Conference, Florida, US
2023 'Absence and its Material Presence', Inside Out Festival, Birmingham City University, UK
2022 'Mothers in Lockdown', Panel Discussion, part of Twenty Twenty Collection Talks, The New Art Gallery Walsall, UK
2021 'Infertility in the Maternal Visual Arts", November, Mothers Who Make, part of Coventry Biennial, UK


WORKSHOPS
2023 Fragmented Female Bodies, PhD Takeover, School of Art, BCU, UK
2022 Mothers Who Make Coventry: Pop Up, The New Art Gallery. Walsall, Walsall, UK
2021 Mothers, A Very Special Place, IKON in the 1990s, IKON Gallery, Birmingham, UK
2013 Draw Your Story - City of 1000 Stories, Children’s Hospital, Birmingham
2012 Explore Drawing - City of 1000 Stories, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham
2012 Exploration of Drawing Narrative - Birmingham Book Festival, Birmingham Central Library
2012 Project in a Night - Alternative Drawing, Birmingham Metropolitan College, Birmingham
2011 Inside/Out/In-Betweeness - Digital Art, Cadbury College, Birmingham
2011 Expressive Image Transfer - Printmaking for 'The Woods', Jane Packman production, mac, Birmingham
2010 Lost Happy Endings - Shadow Puppet Workshop, Carol-Ann Duffy production, mac, Bham
2010 Surrealist Juxtapositions – Ordinary Extraordinary - Printmaking, Cadbury College, Birmingham
2010 Inside/Outside/Back to Front - Drawing, Cadbury College, Birmingham
2010 Picturing Community – Experimental Drawing, mac, Birmingham


PRESS
2022 "Away with the Quarrelsome (Pomegranate) Apple", Stay in Art magazine, by Guilia Isetti
2021 "Why Is It So Hard To Talk About Fertility?", Elephant magazine, by Hettie Judah
2021 Mothers in Residence interview
2021 Artist / Mother Podcast Instagram Takeover
2020 FemalePhotographers.org featured artist, selected by Qiana Mestrich


PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
2021 The New Art Gallery Walsall, Twenty Twenty Capsule Collection, UK ("Lockdown Hair, Who Cares?" triptych)
2021 The Drawing Museum, Ladies Drawing Club, St Petersburg, Russia ("Human Algorithm V”)


PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
2023 Art Working Parents (AWP)
2018- present Extra Ordinary People, Eastside Projects, Birmingham
2011-17 Transient Art (Co-Founder)- West Midlands collective, creating dialogue between art & audience in
non-traditional spaces
2009-10 BCU Academic Research Group - creating cohesion between Education & Contemporary Art







For further information, please email:  info@sallybutcher.com