Kimberley Harding, an innovative Portland, Maine artist who works in natural materials, is exhibiting an eclectic variety of works for a solo show titled “Waste Not,” demonstrating not just a reverence for nature, but artistic techniques based on harmony with the natural world. The “Waste Not” exhibition opens March 6, 2024, and is on view through April 29 in the gallery at Gilsland Farm, Maine Audubon in Falmouth. The exhibition reception will be held on Sunday, March 24 from 2:00-4:00 pm. Harding is teaching a class to make upcycled t-shirt yarn baskets in conjunction with the exhibition. Registration is available at MaineAudubon.org

Many of the 3D wall works in “Waste Not” feature a mix of materials diverted from the waste stream or sustainably harvested from the wild.

For example, Harding’s ongoing series Remains of the Day includes 16 pieces created from the remnants of previous artworks. Finding beauty in the cut off bits of reed, willow, rope and other materials, Harding assembled small artworks with these leftover bits and pieces.

Another recycling of previous work includes over-sized musical notation made from foraged natural materials. These had been part of her collaborative installation (with Laurie Bogdan) called Music Chamber, previously part of the Wild Hideaways exhibition at the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston, MA.

Representational works inspired more directly by nature include A Walk by the River, Autumn, Salt Marsh, and Marsh Wren. These pieces are made using basketry techniques from dyed and undyed basketry reed.

Kimberley Harding has exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the US as well as online. Nature, personal experience, and social issues are the sources for her art practice, which focuses on fibers and fiber techniques, especially basketry. Her art is viewable online at kimberleyharding.art on Instagram.