Damien Hirst: The importance of the 'Butterfly'

The art of being controversial seems to underpin Hirst's motives. In 1991, White Cube showed In and Out of Love. An installation that involved the life cycle of a butterfly and confronted ideas of mortality, beauty and decay.

The Souls series is one of Hirst’s most extensive explorations of the butterfly motif. It's a collection of 80 foil block variations of 4 speices of Butterfly in 80 different colourways.

Butterflies became a tool to create balance through patterns and repetition. There is a spiritual nature resembling stained-glass windows seen in churches and religious buildings.

Released in 2015, Psalms takes its title from the Old Testament, nodding to the quiet spiritual undercurrent that runs through the series. While the pattern is said to have been inspired by a Victorian tea tray, its measured geometry feels entirely in tune with the work’s contemplative rhythm.

The Dreams is a series of 40 original works on canvas, and 8 editions based on the paintings. "These dream prints are like capturing a star or a heartbeat. It’s the same explosion of colour and movement, trapped in time and space. It feels like the paint is still dripping when you first see it. The print is a powerful memory of that moment the painting was made and a way of holding onto something joyous and full of life yet fleeting." - Damien Hirst