Deborah Butterfield's horse sculptures are self-portraits in which she uses the horse as a metaphor for self. Each sculpture is cast from carefully selected branches, sticks, driftwood, and other found object. She uses the materials to "draw" the horse - not just the outline, but the energy and gestures of the house. She then casts these so-called "ghosts" in bronze, burning away her initial creation.

Butterfield has shown her work at the Seattle Art Museum; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts; The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Madison Art Center; and San Diego Museum of Art. Her work is included in numerous public collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago; The Brooklyn Museum, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Walker Sculpture Garden, Minneapolis; and the Whitney Me=useum of American Art, New York.

The impermanence experienced during Buie's childhood in the foster care system informs Buie's printmaking practice. She often uses abstracted childhood photos and other physical materials from her childhood to create monumental monotypes and screenprints. Based on research of her family history, these prints are investigations of her childhood, personal narrative, and collective memory. By remaking images from her childhood, Buie reasserts her self-agency over her past.

Buie's work has been exhibited at the Haggerty Museum of Art, Milwaukee; Racine Art Museum, WI; N'NAMDI Center for Contemporary Art, Detroit; The Milwaukee Art Museum; The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art; Lawrence University, Appleton, WI; and the Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend. Her work is part of the permanent Collection at the Milwaukee Art Museum.