Book Launch Alison Turnbull 'PSYCHE Or, the butterfly – An expanded field guide'

PSYCHE Or, the butterfly – An expanded field guide

by Alison Turnbull

Published by Más Arte Más Acción in association with Matt’s Gallery  

In 2017 artist Alison Turnbull travelled to Chocó, Colombia at the invitation of Más Arte Más Acción to study butterflies in the Pacific rainforest, working alongside Dr Blanca Huertas, butterfly expert and Senior Curator in Lepidoptera at the Natural History Museum, London. 

PSYCHE Or, the butterfly – An expanded field guide is Alison Turnbull’s observational record, both literal and imaginary, of the expedition. Comprising a wide variety of idioms - drawings, photographs, notes, fragments and literary sources - this book of butterflies is a field guide in the broadest sense. The collection includes ‘The Mimic Net’, an essay by writer and mythographer Marina Warner. Accompanying the book is Some Butterflies of La Chocoana and Surroundings, an illustrated guide to the butterflies of the region by Dr Huertas, assisted by Danilo Palacios.  

Psyche is the ancient Greek word for both butterfly and soul. 

This project has been developed in partnership with the British Council.