Cedar Butcher, Queer joy

Queer joy

2024

Recycled ceramic and underglaze

31 x 22cm

Comes apart in two sections with secret character

$400

Artist Bio:
Cedar Butcher (b 2000, they/them) is a queer emerging multidisciplinary artist based on the banks of kanamaluka, lutruwita. They received their Bachelor of Fine Arts at the

University of Tasmania in 2025. Their practice seeks to embody radical queer joy and whimsy, considering the entanglement of human and non-human agents through the lens of the unfolding climate crisis.

 Growing up on Bundjalung country in New South Wales allowed their deep appreciation for the environments they occupy to flourish. The flooding of the Wilson River in 2022 saw their hometown and community of Lismore devastated. The deep impact of this natural disaster is evident throughout their practice.

Artist statement:
This vessel was created as a means to reflect upon growing up queer in a small country town. It explores struggles with identity in such a sheltered corner of the world.

Due to their uncanny nature, they represent the feeling that something is off-centre, something is not quite right about the way you move through, exist, and present yourself within the world, and yet not being able to pinpoint the root of these feelings. They explore themes of religious trauma, living within a façade, alienation, disconnect from your body and feeling as if you are the punchline to the joke. Through all this conflict, they are inherently joyful, having grown flowers through the mud. This is a reflection of how I experience queer joy, having lived through all the discomfort to have grown into an adult that celebrates their queer self.