Exhibit by Chase DeForest

Out West represents a moment of time in which I explore and mostly celebrate the qualities of where I was raised and where I currently reside. It’s a deep dive into nostalgia and longing, reinforced by these modern times.

Jessie Wilber Gallery
August 8 – September 6, 2024

Reception

Opening: Friday, August 9th during the Art Walk from 6:00-8:00pm

Artist Statement

Leather is ubiquitous, and yet an uncommon art medium. Stitched leather has historically been the language of saddles and boots. I strive to expand the medium by using it in an unusual capacity to delve into the place I love, the American West. Hides become the palette by which I can highlight prairie bird species of concern or use it more emotively by embedding various forms of horse tack, to capture the gesture of an ethereal moment in time. Topically and materially, it’s full of potential.

I’m forever a ‘4H kid’ reimagining the mountains and the range with traditional tools in a modern context. My art seeks to honor place through a material inextricable from its storied past, turbulent present and somewhat imperiled future.

Artist Bio

Chase DeForest creates collaged and stitched leather artworks broadly exploring themes surrounding cattle, horses, landscapes, and the American west. She uses hides and their source as a conceptual jumping off point for her subject matter. This has included examining topics such as invasive and native plant species and public land access issues as well as celebrating western bird species and well loved equine tack. All of the art celebrates the many compelling properties of leather: supple, durable, flexible and fun.

Chase was raised riding horses on a rural family farm. After two decades making commissioned custom furniture, she came across the idiosyncratic world of custom cowboy boot makers. In becoming one she discovered the many attributes and potential of leather and has now also taken the medium from the foot to the wall.

Chase has and MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and presently resides in Livingston, Montana.