Frieda Gossett grew up in Hygiene, Colorado. Shortly before graduating from ArtCenter College of Design, she began using leather as an editorial material—leading from portraiture to abstract representations of sharks, kites, planes, and fish.

When you look at her work, you’re looking at photographs of actual leather sculptures—not a digital trick. Each of her animals is as much an act of engineering as it is one of invention. Look also for the way she embosses the leather to create facial expressions, and subtle textures on the wings and carapaces of the insects.