Previous Work | KimberleyHarding.org

Fundament

What’s fundamental to you?

29"h x 24"w x 1.5" d

Materials: clothesline, t-shirt yarn, fiber reactive dyes

Techniques: cloverleaf base, twining, triple twining, wrapping, braiding, stitching, dyeing

Marsh Wren

A canoe tour of Scarborough Marsh inspired me to create this larger-than-life marsh wren. We saw many birds during our journey along the winding Nonesuch River, but the marsh wren was only identifiable by its buzzy trill & some nests we saw in the grasses. Wrens have long been a favorite of mine, and research confirmed that the marsh wren is a delightful member of the family & worthy of a portrait.

Materials: round, flat and flat oval reed, bass wood, acrylic paint, waxed threads, wire, glue

Techniques: twining, carving, painting, wrapping

Joys and Sorrows

22" w x 20" d x 18" h

So many of my memories are entwined with the nature sanctuary Habitat in Belmont, MA, beginning in 1989 when visiting it with my then fiancé, Josh, to decide if we could afford to get married there. We fell in love with this place and chose to wed there under the cherry tree in the formal garden. It was May and its pink blossoms were at their height. I like to remember it as a perfect day, but like all memories, it has unraveled a little, like the strips of fabric from my gown. I don’t mind this, I am happy with the fluidity of memories. Let them sway and tangle and untangle.
The beauty of Habitat and the happy memories I started there have lured me to visit regularly. The tranquility I have found there has also provided comfort for many sorrows, large and small, that inevitably come with living. Hovering near the trunk are the dangling ghosts of those who are no longer present in my physical life. Yet each flower is a joy.

Generosi-tea: Self-Portrait as Teapot

A person of generous proportions, I like to think I also have a generous nature. Those who give frequently receive, as I have from friends, family, and colleagues. The contributed linen napkins I used in this sculpture tell their own stories of generosity – of dinner parties and holiday gatherings – in the stains and signs of wear. Sitting down for tea with a friend is a ritual of generosity I love to perform.

9” h x 17” w x 8” d

Celia

Celia was my grandmother-in-law. She was born in 1903 in Luninets, Belarus, married Milton in 1924, & had two daughters. She kept a pristine home, using her tablecloths for family celebrations. After she died at age 100, I was given her tablecloths, which I used until they began to wear out. I couldn’t part with them, until I came up with the idea of using one to create a portrait to honor Celia.

17” h x 13.25” w x 2.5” d

Materials: Celia's tablecloth, various cords, wool batting, fiberfill, wire, thread, buttons, foam core

Techniques: coiling, stitching, unraveling, embroidery

Empty Nest

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 onto new adventures.

4.5" h x 9" w x 9" d

Materials: old checks, old address labels, membership cards & IDs, gouache, glue
Techniques: rolling, folding, random weave, painting, gluing

Sea Urchin Basket

The insulation covers come from copper alligator clips I use to hold things together when constructing my work. They are of no use to me, but I hate to waste anything. This basket is the answer to the question “What can you make with 100 pieces of the same object?”

2” h x 5” w x 5” d

Materials: 100 alligator clip insulation covers, cotton braiding cord
Techniques: stitching

Pain Containment Pod #4: Depression/Anxiety

Since adolescence depression and anxiety have been my shadow companions. I was privileged to partake of psychotherapy for many years, which was very helpful but insufficient to make living with the diseases tolerable. I resisted chemical treatment for a long, long time. During a particularly stressful period, I began experiencing panic attacks and succumbed to the lure of the medicated solution. I’ve been on a few over the years, and they work for the most part, but they have their cost. And there are still some days when depression, especially, escapes from the shadowy confines and grips me with its bruising tendrils. It wears me down and keeps me from doing what I love – creating.

Pain Containment Pod #3: Right Shoulder

Any physical therapist will tell you shoulder pain is the worst to deal with. The skeletal-muscular structures are so complex, and the joint so necessary for everyday life, let alone the creative life. I hadn’t let my repeated bouts of shoulder impingement stop me from working, though I probably should have. It turns out there was a tear as well as a bone spur and arthritis, requiring surgery. I’m afraid the pain has yet to be contained.