In 2017 artist Alison Turnbull travelled to Chocó, Colombia at the invitation of Más Arte Más Acción to study butterflies in the Pacific rainforest, working alongside Dr Blanca Huertas, butterfly expert and Senior Curator in Lepidoptera at the Natural History Museum, London.

Psyche is the ancient Greek word for both butterfly and soul.

PSYCHE Or, the butterfly – An expanded field guide is Alison Turnbull's observational record, both literal and imaginary, of the expedition. Comprising a wide variety of idioms - drawings, photographs, notes, fragments and literary sources - this book of butterflies is a field guide in the broadest sense. The collection includes The Mimic Net, an essay by writer and mythographer Marina Warner and an illustrated fold out guide to the butterflies of the region by Dr Huertas. PSYCHE is a bilingual Spanish/English publication translated by Erna von der Walde.

This publication is the culmination of a series of events including Alison Turnbull's exhibition If Mimicry Minded at Matt's Gallery and her BBC Radio 4 programme Butterflies in Colombia. This project was developed in partnership with the British Council.