Katie Butler’s allegorical still life paintings provide critical commentary on the financial disparities in American society. Butler’s paintings are rich with humor and tongue-in-cheek social commentary. Weaving recognizable elements of American visual culture–such as the picnic and the familiar checkered floors of a classic diner–surrounding her tables piled high with food. Butler creates tableaus that seem celebratory at first but, upon closer inspection, reveal themselves to be riddled with flies, rats, mold, and other clues pointing towards corruption.