Forrest Wasko is a visual artist whose practice centers around photography as a form of collecting. Drawn to the everyday and the familiar, they capture moments instinctively, photographing their happenstance surroundings to create improvised narratives shaped by chance. In their work, the ordinary becomes enigmatic, often playfully anthropological, inviting curiosity and interpretation. The photographs are more about feeling than fact—turning the visible world into a reflection of the viewer’s own thoughts and experiences. Using these collections of images, connections emerge between disparate subjects through editing and sequencing, revealing themes and narratives that become photo series, installations, and photo books. They have exhibited their work locally and nationally, and were a recipient of the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council’s Next Step Fund in 2023.
Thank you!
Education
BFA in Photography, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, 2017
New York Studio Residency Program, Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design, 2016
Exhibitions
Untitled 19, juried group exhibition, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN, 2025
The Star of Riches is Shining Upon You, solo show, White Bear Center for the Arts, White Bear, MN, 2024
Back Burner, group show, MirrorLab Gallery, Minneapolis, MN 2023
Untitled 17, juried group exhibition, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN, 2023
Future Perfect, joint exhibition with Justin D. Allen, MirrorLab Gallery, Minneapolis, MN 2022
Practice Night, group exhibition, MirrorLab Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, 2021
The Space In Between, juried group exhibition, The Space In Between Gallery, Online, 2021
A Little While Longer, solo exhibition, Backroom Gallery (Waiting Room), Saint Paul, MN, 2020
Get Lucky, group exhibition, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN, 2019
New Editions, juried group exhibition, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN 2019
Lost in Light, joint show at Knock curated by Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN, 2019
Untitled 14, juried group exhibition, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN 2018
Recent Work, group exhibition, Barnes and Thornburg Gallery, Minneapolis, MN 2018
Made at MCAD, juried group exhibition, Minneapolis College of Art and Design Main Gallery, 2017
It's a Small World (After All), juried group exhibition, Concourse Gallery at MCAD, Minneapolis, MN 2017
Happy Camera, group exhibition, A-Mill Artist Lofts, Minneapolis, MN 2016
Coverage, group exhibition, OST Tractor Works, Minneapolis, MN 2016
The Drawing Project: Sketching Climate, featured artist, Northern Spark, Minneapolis, MN 2016
Anti-Pro, group exhibition, NYSRP Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 2016
Made at MCAD, juried group exhibition, Minneapolis College of Art and Design Main Gallery, 2016
Hallways, juried group exhibition, Casket Arts, Minneapolis, MN, 2015
Semblance, juried group exhibition, Darkroom Gallery, Essex, VT, 2015
Grants and Awards
Next Step Fund, Metro Regional Arts Council, 2023
Press and Publications
Aint-Bad, Issue: 15, showcase of "till then," Online, 2021
The Waterstone Review, literary annual, Volume 24: Ghost(s) Still Living, Print, 2021
Make MN Magazine, periodical, Volume 4, No. 3: Perspective Issue, Print, 2019
The Waterstone Review, literary annual, Volume 18: We Cannot Alter, Print, 2016