On Butterfly Logic (2024) examines butterflies’ movement patterns, social norms of neurotypicality, and psychiatric and historic representations of autism. “Butterfly logic,” in philosophy, refers to “faulty” logic which draws conclusions from insufficient evidence, likened to a butterfly’s flight pattern. Though the insect’s movements might not make sense to a human observer, its “erratic” logic keeps it safe from predators. Sandell presents the butterfly as a symbol of resistance to normative cognitive processes, linking it to neurodivergent modes of movement and thought. “Butterfly logic” is reified as an intelligent, worthy, and queer thought process.

In the Blackwood lightboxes, Sandell has combined still photographs with text excerpts which appear in a short film of the same title. In the photographs, various butterfly species are seen against the backdrop of an industrial greenhouse, in a contrast that alludes to the historic institutionalization of people with autism. Across the four campus lightboxes, text excerpts reflect the links between normative thought, neurodiversity, and what butterflies can teach us.