Sarah Sense: Cowgirls and Indians

Using traditional Chitimacha and Choctaw basket-weaving techniques, Sarah Sense intricately layers images collected over many years, including photographs of Chitimacha landscapes, Hollywood posters, Wild West show imagery, and family memoirs. Sense first began developing this body of work in 2004, after receiving the blessing of the Chitimacha Chairman to use the tribe’s weaving techniques with alternative photographic materials. Revisiting and re-interpreting the imagery she has worked with for over a decade, Sense addresses historical narratives of struggle and questions the stereotypical portrayal of the Cowboy and Indian in American pop culture.

Of Choctaw and Chitimacha descent, Sarah Sense is from Sacramento, California, and currently lives and works in Bristol, England. She earned a BFA from California State University Chico and an MFA from Parsons the New School for Design, New York. She has traveled extensively to learn about the artwork of Indigenous people around the world.

Organized by the Boise Art Museum

IMAGE: Sarah Sense, Cowgirl and Clint Eastwood with Guns, 2018, woven archival inkjet print on bamboo and rice paper, wax, and tape, 32” x 48”