Kim Harty works at the intersection of materials, performance, and technology. Harty’s work examines the alchemical relationship between the artist and raw materials, and exploits the process of transformation inherent in artmaking. Harty creates sculpture, installation and performance through the appropriation and reinterpretation of found objects and their histories. Her work cultivates meaning by forgings relationships between the artist’s body, materials and technologies that leave the viewer with a palpable sensation—one both visual and phenomenological. 

Her work has been shown at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk,  VA; The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY; Gelman Gallery in Providence, RI; Heller Gallery in New York, NY; Sullivan Galleries in Chicago, IL, the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo,OH.  In 2013 Harty participated in the Pilchuck Emerging Artist Residency at Pilchuck Glass School and the BOLT Residency at the Chicago Artists Coalition. 

Her work most recently has been shown at Stanze del Vetro, Venice, Italy; Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg FL; Tacoma Museum of Glass, Tacoma WA; Heller Gallery, New York NY; Janice Charach Gallery, Bloomfield MI; and Sculpture Center, Cleveland OH.

She is currently the chair for of the Crafts Department at the College for Creative Studies, Detroit MI. Harty received her BFA in glass at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2006, and her MFA in art and technology studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) in 2013. 

Image: Kim Harty, Networktopia, 2012, installation part of 2 day public event.

(Updated in 2022)