Breath Of LIFE, 2024

Mixed fiber art, gold trim, backed on vintage velvet

9 1/4 x 7 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches, framed

Fair Market Value: $1,200

Starting Bid: $840

Buy It Now: $1,800

CELESTE BUTLER (b. Omaha, Nebraska) is a fiber and textile artist, storyteller, and Quiltologist, a term that captures Butler's holistic creative process and her investment in quilting as both artistic practice and lifestyle. Butler's multifaceted practice covers a wide spectrum that provides space for healing and comfort, abstract art, and a voice for social justice.

Butler's work tells the stories of her family history, which has been shaped by descendants from the African Continent, The Great Migration, redlining in Omaha, and the skilled work of her mother, grandmother, godmother, and women in her neighborhood who made magic with their hands. Butler has exhibited at the Burgwin Wright House Museum (Wilmington, North Carolina) and PACE (Council Bluffs, Iowa). Butler has been published in The New York Times and Washington Post and has had fellowships with The Union for Contemporary Art (Omaha, Nebraska), Omaha Public Schools, and Nelson Mandela Elementary School. She has lectured and taught at Joslyn Art Museum, Metropolitan Community College, University of Omaha, and the National African American Quilt Convention.