Leah Hardy Metalsmith/Sculptor
Tour Stop Number: 42 or 3 days: 3
Type of Stop: Artist
Category: Metal Arts and Sculpture
Website 1: https://leahmhardy.com/home.html
Email: lhardy@uwyo.edu
Small-scale narrative metal sculpture and jewelry
Employing insect-inspired forms which become metaphors for the present human condition, Leah Hardy’s sculptural works are narrative and contemplative in nature. Fragmented, altered with mechanical elements or re-contextualized, these life forms reference our fascination with immortality and desire with the underlying yearning to connect, communicate and gain insight. Hardy employs metalsmithing techniques of sawing, soldering, etching, enameling, casting, patination and hydraulic pressing to form and fabricate her metal and mixed media forms. Hardy completed a BFA in Art, Kansas University (1987), study abroad at Howard Gardens Art School, Cardiff, Wales, UK (1986-87) and an MFA, Indiana University (1990). Exhibited nationally and internationally, Hardy’s sculpture has garnered numerous awards and inclusions in books, periodicals, juried and invitational exhibitions. Residencies have taken Hardy to Australia, New Zealand, China, and India. Hardy’s work is in public and private collections in the US and abroad. Teaching at the University of Wyoming, Hardy established and headed the Metalsmithing Program, co-taught a UW International Art course in India for five summers and conducted research in North India on traditional metalsmithing techniques. In 2017 Hardy was an invited Visiting Artist at the University of South Australia, Adelaide, and directed a collaborative project, In Camels’ Footsteps, a camel trek with artists in South Australia culminating in exhibitions in Adelaide and Sydney in 2018. Hardy was one of five finalists from Wyoming for the 2024 Women to Watch Exhibition at the National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. Hardy resides in Abiquiu, New Mexico.