BIO
Sarah Hardesty’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Arlington, VA; VisArts, Rockville, MD; Metro Micro Gallery, Arlington, VA; ISE Cultural Foundation, New York, NY; Davidson Contemporary, New York, NY; MPG Gallery, Boston, MA; Wheaton College, Norton, MA; and the Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ. She has been awarded residencies at MoCA Arlington, MacDowell Colony, Wassaic Project, Carriage House at Islip Art Museum, Santa Fe Art Institute, and Vermont Studio Center. Hardesty is the recipient of numerous financial awards, including a Fairfax County Artist Grant (2020), a VFIC Mednick Fellowship (2019), a Leon Levy award (2012), and an award from The Joan Mitchell Foundation (2007). Hardesty holds an MFA in Painting from the University of Arizona and a BS in Studio Art from Skidmore College. She is an Associate Professor of Art at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. She was born in Strong, Maine, and is currently based in Pawtucket, RI.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work explores the connection between geological formations and human experiences, such as strength, resilience, and change. I use texture, reflection, layering, line, and process in my work, which includes abstract, minimal, and process-based elements. I draw from personal content, including trauma, healing, and a sense of place. I aim for my work to be viscerally accessible, transcending deep emotions and intellect to create a rhythmical and poetic experience.
I use various materials, including found objects like sticks, rocks, string, and vinyl. I often incorporate imagery from esoteric landscapes and repetitive additive and subtractive processes. Found branches, string, paint, rocks, and other found objects are woven, adhered, strung, elevated, and weighted in my installations and three-dimensional work.
My earlier work focused on trauma, the body, and healing. I used materials and imagery referencing physicality, spatial relationships, scarring, and solitude. Over the years, my work shifted to concentrate more on the environment and geological transformation, while still maintaining references to the body.
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Time Binding Catalog, click to view.
Artist talk in conjunction with Moving Mountains at VisArts, 2017 click below to listen:
Filmed during my residency at The Wassaic Project, 2011
Filmed in conjunction with my solo booth at Davidson Contemporary,
Volta NY, 2013
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