Platform, London Art Fair

During the early months of 2020, with access to the physical world restricted by a national lockdown, Katharine Le Hardy found herself absorbed by historical images of past times. Partially induced by memory and partly by nostalgia she started painting historic images of places and children at play.  This triggered a new enquiry, an investigation of the space between the real, the past, the lost and the hopeful.  Currently documenting deserted funfairs, and researching the history of play, Katharine observes the forlornness of a deserted place of play and how this conflicts with our presupposed associations of jubilance, how our memories entwine with our fantasies. In this work we see a curious balance between the whimsical and the absolute. There is a universal cultural heritage of certain childhood games, amongst the most enduring are the hula hoop, hopscotch, puddles, skipping and balls. The children in Le Hardy’s paintings appear in western style 1920’s clothing emphasising the passage of time. Certain games have been passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years demonstrating the elemental importance and significance of togetherness and play.