“I love painting big. I just love the physical nature of it all” says Gabrielle Butler, whose work Rejuvenate features in the exhibition The Alternative Archive.

For Gabrielle, art has always been an escape. “The flow that I get into with painting, I can’t find anything else in life that is like it. Maybe dancing at 3am or something like that” she says. We recently spoke to the early career artist and learnt of her background in Film and Television, how she finds meaningful connection through visual art, and her pursuit for balance between the two worlds.

Gabrielle Butler, 2022. Photography by Duncan Wright

Gabrielle grew up on a farm in the small town of Perenjori in WA’s Wheatbelt region, about 350km from Perth. She was a creative kid and from early on invented worlds through paintings, tree houses and tiny sets. She recalls how her Emme taught her to paint. “I was six when Emme moved to the farm to help Mum out, so it was during that time where it really started. We’ve got an old house on our farm where she’d set up her easel and materials and we’d paint. And growing up I was like “Oh, she’s a famous artist. You can’t paint clouds like that and not be famous!”.

She cherishes this time, saying “It was so special, being young and having that validation from an adult. Having that time to be taught. She wasn’t a famous artist at all, but to me she was.” Gabrielle’s mother was also her art, music and drama teacher in primary school, and she was always encouraged by her family to pursue her creativity. As a teenager she moved from Perenjori to Geraldton for high school and fell in love with media studies, then made the move to Perth to study Screen Arts and Photography at Curtin University. Having grown up in a town of a mere few hundred, this was both fun and daunting. “I still find it daunting in the city. I’ve been here for almost eight years now, but that’s okay” she says.

Since graduating in 2019 she has worked in a freelance capacity on films, music videos, commercials and more. Gabrielle sees crossovers with her painting practice and this work, like the exploration of space. “I think that’s why I love film and production design. It’s going into the space and discovering all the little elements to it. With painting landscapes or painting portraits, it’s that connection to something or someone beyond a surface level.” She sees her art practice as a rebellion against the regimented business of the film industry, and how creative agency is ultimately always compromised by meeting the demands of a client or budget. “But then art is just that pure creativity” she says “And I’m not a trained artist, I’m self-taught. So there’s that thing too where I’m breaking the rules that I create for myself. So it’s always fun discovering that”.

Gabrielle loves painting portraits, the process of sitting and connecting with someone on a deeper level. She loves mark-making and the bodily, expressive potential of painting. In 2017, she was teaching some painting workshops at the Perenjori Show when she met David Bowman-Bright from the North Midlands Project, who invited her to return to the region as the Act Belong Commit youth ambassador. She went part-time with her studies to teach a series of workshops in Geraldton and across the Wheatbelt region, which led to an opportunity to undergo a residency in Carnamah near her hometown Perenjori.

“It’s a six-week residency. There’s about eight different artists involved, and the theme was Time and Place. So, I was really exploring my identity at home, because I feel like my country self is different to my city self. But that’s only because I’ve tried to go, “I need to be a cool city slicker.” And then realized that “No, I’m not really.” And it’s okay”. Working with the North Midlands Project has been pivotal for Gabrielle. “If it wasn’t for them, I don’t think I’d have such a connection back to my hometown” she shares.

At the time of our meeting Gabrielle was in between film jobs in Perth, about to return to Carnamah to complete another set of workshops. She is striving for good balance between Production Design and her art practice but admits “It is pretty hard in the world of film that doesn’t allow for that”. She is conscious of the hustle culture within the industry, saying “It’s go, go, go working in film. You go from being such an integral part of something, sourcing all these props for shoot day. And if they don’t have that on the day they are stuck. So you feel so needed in this period and then the very next day after you finish, you’re unemployed again. It’s such a rollercoaster. So art is definitely an escapism from that because I have full control, and every stroke I make is mine” Gabrielle says.

She maintains her passion for film and is thankful for the income it provides, stating “I am conflicted with it, but I also thrive in it. And I do love the thrill of it.”

In 2023 she has plans to move to Sydney to find steadier work within film and continue painting, hoping to eventually have a solo exhibition of her work. But her roots in the country will always draw her home, as she says “I do want to come back to Perth. I do love it. And I love being four hours away from the farm.”

The Alternative Archive tour continues through regional WA in 2023. Visit the exhibition page for upcoming dates and more information.