New York artist Chellis Baird produces tactile creations that push the traditional boundaries of the canvas, crafting multidimensional artworks that masterfully combine painting and sculpture, texture and physical gesture. She tapped into her inventive and adept use of textiles for a recent collaboration with American Leather, the Dallas-based furniture company renowned for its custom luxury upholstery, artisanal hides, and exceptional craftsmanship.

For this special project, Baird explored American Leather’s vast collection of resources, selecting supple hide swatches, bolts of fabric, custom woodwork finishes, and polished-metal trims to produce a transfixing body of work. “It was so exciting to play with American Leather’s materials because they have so much physical body to them,” she says. Creating three ambitious artworks, an extension of her “Unveiling,” series, she utilized custom-joined walnut or white pine frames to establish what she views as a theatrical stage for a three-act performance. “It was exactly what was needed next in my practice.”

Baird embraced the leather’s raw, untamed edges, slicing, folding, and twisting it to reveal the contrasting cognac suede reverse. “The material was really surprising to work with—I loved the natural edges—and the front and the back were equally beautiful to me,” notes Baird, who began each piece by drawing gestures in space across the stretched hide. “The leather had this real presence without me having to force it; it was just ready to express itself.”

The use of rich, earthy browns and warm beige tones enhanced by gleaming copper accents also marked a new color palette for the artist. “I incorporated the metal piping to make it sing and respond to the lightness,” she says. “I wanted the viewer to sense that element of spark.”

With a background in fashion design and a lifelong love of classical ballet, Baird views her studio process as an improvisational dance where the drape of the leather guides her. “With leather being an actual skin, it became a fascinating conceptual layer,” reflects the artist, who has the solo show “Garden of Athletes” at the Bo Bartlett Center in Columbus, Georgia, through December 5. “A traditional painting has often been a reference to skin, with the frame acting as the bones. I didn’t want to fight with the material; I wanted the leather to dance with me.”

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2026 Late Fall Issue under the headline “Material Movement.” Subscribe to the magazine.