From 1941 to 1943 she studied architecture at the University of Washington[3] before dropping out of college in 1943 to marry Elmo Chase, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy.

To support her family, which had grown to two children, Chase taught painting and design at Edison Technical School.

[4] An early steel sculpture, the 4.6 m (15 ft) tall Changing Form, was commissioned for Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill, in 1971.

Victor Ancona said of Chase's dance videos, "Watching her tapes gave me the feeling of being transported to an enchanted, phosphorescent environment unceasingly in flux, a voyage I will long remember".

[10] Chase's most widely shown work is a series of 30-minute video dramas regarding older women's autonomy, titled By Herself.

Documents relating to the production of her video works are held in The Celeste Bartos International Film Study Center at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.