Synopsis 

The Marks We Leave is a short six-minute documentary that follows Bozeman-based artist Hailey Hosken as she creates a painting inspired by her experience climbing in the Gallatin Canyon; specifically the most prominent feature, Spare Rib. The film explores the deep connection between Hailey’s art and the landscape around her, showing how her time outdoors shapes the way she approaches her paintings.

We follow Hailey in two main parts of her life. The quiet, focused space of her studio, and the mountains where she rock climbs. We move back and forth between the studio and the Gallatin Canyon as we begin to understand the crossover in Hailey’s life between the layering style in which she paints her pieces and the formations of the geological processes of the earth and her climbing.  

As the film moves along, Hailey reflects on what it means to leave something behind, both in nature and in art. She speaks about the materials she uses, the rocks she recreates on, and the legacy she hopes her work will carry. The film invites viewers to think about the marks we all leave in the places we love and the things we create. On a broader scale, The Marks We Leave is a film about the relationship between a person and the landscape they live in.