The Byrne Gallery is proud to present Hanakotoba, The Language of Flowers, a celebration of the Cherry Blossom Season which introduces the art of Caroline Garrett Hardy to the Gallery for the first time.  A professor of art and printmaking, her very original medium which is presented on handmade rice paper incorporates both her lovely painting and her sculptural use of paper and found objects to create a contemporary “remix” kimono in vibrant color that speaks to the elegance and beauty of traditional Japanese textiles and watercolors. The exhibit will begin on March 3rd and continue through Sunday, May 1st 2022.   There will be a reception on Saturday, March 12th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  The reception is open to the public and everyone is cordially invited to attend.

Caroline Garrett Hardy: 

“The Japanese sense of style and color influences my work. Primarily, I make Asian-themed paper kimonos, using “rice” paper (actually made from mulberry trees), but also bits of scrap paper from many other sources. In these garments, and in the occasional collage, I make use of the symbolic power of flower and floral symbols, drawing on the Japanese practice characterized by the term hanakotoba. The term means “flower words,” or more loosely, “the language of flowers.” Artisans use hanakotoba to emphasize the passing of time, to describe feelings, or to foreshadow important future events. For example, consistent with that idea, I might use cherry blossoms to acknowledge the passing of time, the ephemeral nature of beauty, and the hope for beauty’s return.

Drawing more loosely on the Asian theme, I sometimes reference the passing of time with the use of discarded materials like napkins, tourist brochures, and the like, or by the creation of a garment from a time quite distant from our own. Recycling materials thus references my Western take on hanakotoba—here, the hope of finding a returned beauty in rejected ephemera.

My kimonos “sing” visually using vibrant colors and patterns. These colors and patterns are meant to catch viewers’ attention and give them a visual treat; but also more subtly, to slow down the passage of their own time, so they can begin to absorb the richer meanings that lie behind the profusion of surface textures.”

 Caroline Garrett Hardy studied printmaking and painting at Virginia Commonwealth University, followed by three years in illustration at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She earned an M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She has taught studio art at four different universities throughout a thirty-year career as a professor. Now, as a full-time artist, married to Trotter Hardy, Professor of Law, Emeritus, at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, her work can be found in the collections of The Brooklyn Museum, The Mint Museum, the Vatican Library, and the James Branch Cabell Special Collections at Virginia Commonwealth University Library.

 Please come to visit the Byrne Gallery to see and enjoy Hanakotoba, The Language of Flowers on exhibit for March and April 2022. The Byrne Gallery is located at 7 West Washington Street in Middleburg, Virginia. Gallery hours are Monday and Tuesday by appointment only, Wednesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Contact the Byrne Gallery for more information at (540) 687-6986.