Mosaicism
with Kim Harty
Open Houses: 9/27, 10/5, 10/18 | 11-4pm
We are pleased to present an exhibition of new glass works by Kim Harty.
Mosaicism reimagines ancient Roman mosaic bowls through a contemporary lens of biology, gender, and material history. Using the traditional glass technique of murrine, which was used by ancient Romans to create low bowls and platters - the artist creates vessels that resemble cellular structures observed under a microscope. Red-toned forms echo the layered patterning of onion-skin mitosis, while other works introduce chimeric compositions featuring XX and XY chromosomal motifs in pink and blue, nodding to genetic variation and hybridity. These objects, both decorative and deeply referential, collapse the distance between ancient craft and modern science. The work invites viewers to consider the body as a site of aesthetic, biological, and cultural complexity.
The exhibition will take place from September 13, 2025 through October 18, 2025 at 1501 Parkview St., Detroit, MI 48214.
Closing Event: Open House October 18, 11a-4p + Artist Talk 3-4p
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Kim Harty is an artist and scholar whose work investigates the connection between craft and embodiment through sculpture, installation, video, and performance. She is heavily informed by her training as a glassblower and is interested in undoing traditional methods of making and investigating how materials can confound their expected function. Harty's art work and performances have been shown in museums and galleries across the US and Europe including the Corning Museum of Glass, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Stanze del Vetro in Venice and the Design Museum Ghent. Her writing has been published in magazines Glass Quarterly and GASNews and in museum catalogs at the Corning Museum of Glass, the Museum of Glass - Tacoma, and the Stanze del Vetro. She is a founding board member of the Glass Education Exchange (GEEX) and former Vice President of the Glass Art Society and recent Site Committee Chair of the 2023 Glass Art Society Conference in Detroit. Harty has taught workshops at the Penland School of Craft and Ox-Bow Art School and Artist Residency. Harty currently lives in Detroit, Michigan where she is Section Lead and Associate Professor of Glass at the College for Creative Studies.