I Posted This So That You Will Look At Me - by Victoria Butler

Artist Statement:

The zine I have submitted is called “I Posted This So That You Will Look At Me.” It’s a combination of poetry and photography, both images I have taken and portraits of myself. The zine explores the phenomenon of social media as a means of being “seen” by others. It is essentially inspired by posting a story on Instagram and then obsessively checking to see if your crush has seen it. A year ago I found myself trapped in a loop of posting excessively just so I could feel validated by the knowledge that select people had seen my content, because I was not being validated by them in our actual relationship. Posting was a means of connecting to them, even though I was sharing everything with the world, it only mattered if one particular person saw. I think it’s something everyone with an Instagram addiction can be prone to do. 

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Victoria Butler is a 24-year-old writer and artist from Barrie, ON. She is the Poet Laureate of said hometown, and the first woman to carry the title. She is the editor-in-chief of the “The Northern Appeal,” which is a biannual, not-for-profit, literary journal that publishes work by creatives in Simcoe County and Muskoka. She has co-curated two art exhibitions, and showcased her own work in collaboration with artist Keri Johnson in their debut multimedia exhibit, “A Survey of Experience” in December of 2018. Butler’s debut chapbook “Old Prayers” was published in August of 2019. In the summer of 2019, Butler facilitated the creation and implementation of Barrie’s first public piano in Meridian Place. She lives with her cat Zelda and too many candles.

What does being featured mean to Victoria: “I would love to be featured for this piece, as I created it a while ago but never really did anything with it. I’m quite proud of it and know it deserves some spotlight! I would also love to be featured alongside a community of likeminded artists, and have work that is deemed worthy enough to earn that ranking.”.

You can see more of Victoria Butler’s work on her Instagram profiles @msbutler21 & @intimateandindiscreet (which she shares with another poet, Caitlin Helinski).

You should also take a look at her literary journal The Northern Appeal at www.thenorthernappeal.com and on instagram @thenorthernappeal.

Freak, out.