Tracey Bush began her career in the Arts with an interest in natural history illustration.

In 2001 whilst researching the idea of the Collection Book at the Institute of Education in London, Tracey created a collection of butterfly shaped books pinned out in a box frame. This began the ongoing series of butterfly and moth collections.

In 2002 Tracey was invited to create an installation in the Members Room at the Natural History Museum in London: The Ephemeral Imago

In 2004 Tracey presented a solo exhibition Paper Butterfly at Craft Central in Clerkenwell, London. The publicity for the exhibition was designed by A Practice for Everyday Life (APFEL) which is a graphic design studio based in London founded by Kirsty Carter and Emma Thomas in 2003.

In 2006, the Natural History Museum Development Department commissioned Tracey to create a set of 24 butterfly boxes. Each box was reclaimed from the decant of the Entomology Department, in preparation for the move to the Darwin Centre. Whilst Tracey created this set of works she was able to study the conventions of butterfly collecting and display. Each paper butterfly or moth is a real species, and is hand cut actual size. There is a link between the common name of the butterfly or moth, and the material from which it is made. So, when using worldwide maps, they will be made into a Map Winged Swift, Common Map Butterfly, European Map Butterfly or Atlas Moth. Tracey does not view the butterfly or moth as a purely decorative image, but wishes to engage with conventions of collecting to create a display which is an alternative to a collection of real specimens.

The first British Butterflies map box (2004) was purchased by the Yale Centre for British Art, and was included in the exhibition Recent Gifts and Acquisitions 19 MAY-19 AUGUST, 2005 reviewed in the New York Times:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504E1DB1538F936A35755C0A9639C8B63