Barbara Harman

Statement

The longer I have lived in Minnesota, the more my art has become about the abundance and compressed view of the natural landscape. I am increasingly focused on what lies between me and the distant view. I am reassembling an experience of layer upon layer: trees, leaves, grasses, water, birds, flowers, seeds. My work reflects the crowded abundance of what I see, often isolating something that calls for my closer attention. I bring it forward, enlarge a small detail, incorporate text, add stitching or beadwork. I want to draw others in past what is transparent to what may be hidden or overlooked.

I work in series, using hand-cut and commercially made stamps and stencils, photographs, found objects, and many impromptu texture materials interchangeably, regardless of medium. I build my images slowly through exchanging or repositioning these elements, and reworking previous areas. A single painting may have more than 25 layers of thin, transparent paint in many colors, while monotypes often use several different plates and print runs to achieve the same layered effect. Textile works add hand embroidery and beading, and artist books marry text and imagery to structure, distilling the experiences and ideas that prompted the series.

Biography

Barbara Harman holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking. From1999-2010, she served as a Mentor in the acclaimed Mentor Program of the Women's Art Registry of Minnesota (WARM). She served as Board President of WARM from 2002-2006 and Exhibitions Curator from 2006-2008. A working artist whose media include painting, printmaking, artist books, works on fabric, and writing, Harman is an inaugural member of and Exhibitions Curator for Project Art for Nature (PAN), a collaborative association of artists working to promote awareness of regional natural environments and preserves, now entering its fourth 3-year cycle.

Barbara Harman's art appears in international collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Harman has taught for over thirty years. Her instruction books on concertina structures sell regularly to book artists and book arts groups all over the world.

Nest

Depths

Await

Global Warming