Artist Reception: Traci Harmon-Hay

2022 FLOATING HOUSE SERIES
I have always looked at homes as animate objects, with the purpose of providing warmth and shelter in exchange for care and love.

Now, owning a home has become untouchable for many.

The feeling of floating up and away portrays this dilemma.  But, what if they were landing and affordable as opposed to drifting away?

Would this change our perspective?

Traci Harmon-Hay paints with fluid acrylics on raw canvas, building layers of wash into a final combination of opaque and transparent color. In all her work she plays with the concept of nature versus man. Originally a watercolorist, she spent a lot of time painting the beauty of Cape Cod.  After years of studying the historic buildings within their environment she started questioning the interaction between humans and nature.  The “Floating Structures” series was inspired by the evidence of sea level rise and demolition. “What if they could hover above their foundation, keeping them safe from wind and water or from the desire of man to rebuild?”  The void of landscape gives our eyes and minds the ability to focus solely on the structure itself, contemplating its history and purpose in this world.

Traci Harmon-Hay received her BFA in illustration and painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art and studied with Fritz Briggs of the Schuler School of Fine Arts in Baltimore. Represented by New York’s Creative Freelancers, Harmon-Hay cofounded Studio Six, an illustration co-op in Baltimore MD. Her clients included the Washington Times, Baltimore Sun, Nation’s Business Magazine, Yankee Publishing and Cambell’s.

She owned the Harmon Gallery in Wellfleet from 2000 until 2014, and continued to exhibit her work there along with many other local and nationally renowned artists until its closer in January 2021. She has also exhibited her work at the Left Bank Gallery, Bromfield Gallery and Fountain Street Gallery.

She lives in Wellfleet with her husband and two daughters.