Kim Leutwyler: Desert Ballads and Sharp Spurs

Kim Leutwyler revisits the mythic figure of the cowboy, unravelling its ties to masculinity, exclusion, and frontier violence. Drawing on their experience growing up queer and gender-diverse in the Arizona desert, Leutwyler returns to the landscapes and symbols of childhood to reclaim them.

Marking a significant expansion of their practice, Leutwyler also re-engages with ceramics after a 19-year hiatus, introducing sculptural works that echo processes of fragmentation and repair. Cut canvas, embroidery, and hybrid ceramic forms sit alongside recast cowboy objects—spurs, horse bits, and trophies.

Both a reckoning and a return, Desert Ballads and Sharp Spurs is an exhibition about healing, survival, and reclaiming identity on one’s own terms.