Empty Nest, old checks, old address labels, membership cards & IDs, gouache, glue
When was this piece created? 2022
What is the story behind this piece? 2021 brought many changes to my family. In March my son moved out of the home he’d lived in since he was five years old. He’d moved back in after college but was finally able to find a job that enabled him and his sweetheart to find a place together. My daughter, back home from college due to COVID-19, moved into an apartment in August to be able to go back to in-person classes. Her girlfriend, who had been living with us due to the pandemic as well, was the last to leave before my husband and I uprooted ourselves from Massachusetts, our home for 40+ years, and moved to Maine. Our old home was empty. We are a little blue without our children. We were fortunate to spend much more time with them at this stage of their lives than we would have normally, because of the pandemic. There is a ray of sunshine piercing the sadness, though, as we all move on to new adventures.
What inspired this piece? When we moved we had a lot of checks with our old address on them, and I could have written our new address on them, but our bank gave us free checks with our new address. I also had a lot of address labels with the old address. I hate wasting things and have a hard time throwing things away. Unpacking these items made me think of our empty old house, the old nest, and gave me an idea for the piece.
Explain/Tell us anything else you would like us to know about this specific work: I experimented with folding and rolling the checks in various ways. I used all the experiments, but made most of them by rolling on a diagonal. It’s made using random weaving. I used 30 year old gouache which I used to use to use to paint illuminated scrolls
What is one of your artistic goals? I’d like to have a solo show sometime soon!
Do you have any shows coming up? This piece will be included in the Cambridge Art Association Members Prize Show in March-April 2022.
Kimberley Harding
Kimberley Harding creates sculptural and installation works using basketry and other fiber techniques. Recently relocated to Portland, ME, Harding has exhibited in numerous galleries and sites in the Greater Boston area, Eastern and Central Massachusetts, and online. She likes to consider interior and exterior spaces, the hidden and the revealed, the personal and the societal in her work. She began collaborating with fellow Arlington, MA artist Laurie Bogdan in 2020, producing installations for the two most recent Art Rambles in Concord, MA, and at Tower Hill Botanic Gardens. In 2021 they co-curated the Art Ramble for the Umbrella Arts Center. They received grants from the Maynard, MA, and Arlington, MA Cultural Councils to exhibit their environmental piece, Confluence, as part of educational initiatives in those two towns.
Website: www.kimberleyharding.org/
Instagram: @kimberleyaharding