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The Butterfly Effect M E TA L A RT I S T C H R I S T I E H AC K LE R ’ S “ M I G R ATO RY E X P E R I M E N T ” BY A DI MCC ASL A ND PHOTOS BY R ACHEL M AUCIER I
This wall installation, called “...Even in your Dreams,” was commissioned for a bedroom in Wayzata, Minnesota.
Edward Lorenz developed the idea that tiny changes can make big differences, he began calling it “the butterfly effect”—symbolized by something as subtle as a wing flutter in Brazil causing a ripple that sets off a tornado in Texas. Butterflies may or may not affect our weather, but they can affect our mood … and perhaps no one appreciates this more than metal artist Christie Hackler.
A S M E T E O R O LO GY P R O F E S S O R
Non-linear Flight Hackler’s father was a writer and designer, and her mother was a portrait artist and oil map draftsman. Creativity wasn’t forced upon her; it’s simply in her blood. To deny the arts would be to deny her spirit, and Hackler is nothing if not true to herself. In the mid-’80s, she was engaged to her high school sweetheart—a fairytale-like engagement that ended just five days before she met her current husband of 32 years. She fell madly in love with him, and more than three decades and four children later, he still knows to bring her tumbleweeds instead of flowers. 26
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“There is something metaphorical, something spiritual about them,” Hackler said. “The tumbleweeds are gloriously alive, and then they die, break off and go on the road. They’re dead, but still feel very alive, much like a memory.” Motherhood came quickly for Hackler, and it would be many years before she returned to school. Even through the frenzy of raising a band of littles, she continued to flex her creative muscles by way of murals, pottery and baking. However, none of those outlets seemed to satisfy. Metamorphosis Craving a more involved endeavor in the arts, she enrolled in the University of Central Oklahoma’s ceramics program—an ambition that lasted only until later that day, when she met the metals teacher, Charleen Weidell. Weidell offered an explorative approach to learning, giving Hackler enough guidance to keep her safe while not stifling her. Art is subjective, after all, with very little right or wrong. Understanding that, in and of itself,
is a masterful form of art and this “try it” technique fosters master artists. In 2010, Hackler earned her metalsmithing degree. This was 14 years after the devastating loss of her six-year-old son, Thomas. When asked about Thomas, Hackler simply says that the tragedy has long been processed. It is both polite and clear: She neither needs nor wants sympathy. She has had her fill. She has moved past the pain, and she is undeniably devoted to focusing on the happy. That’s when the butterflies emerged. If you ask Hackler about her rise as an artist, she will tell you that success is in your own mind—that if you feel successful, you are successful. If you ask anyone else in her orbit, they would probably say it was March 2015, when she had her first solo show at The Project Box in Oklahoma City’s Paseo Arts District. In the 16 months before that, Hackler and her husband, Jim, lost both of his parents, his brother and her father. While she was busy navigating the logistics of death, the show was sneaking up on her. “Whatever I make,” she told herself, “it’s going to be all about happiness.”
