About

Li Hardison is a figurative sculptor and portrait artist. She describes her passion for studying and rendering the human form as that which sustains her psychologically, emotionally and spiritually. Her works are made of clay and cast in bronze.

Li Hardison was raised in Newark, New Jersey, however she is a native of Harlem, New York. As a child, she spent a significant amount of time with her aunt, a sculptor, at her home studio in New York. She grew up watching her aunt work on pieces and sculpt portraits. At 17, she successfully sculpted a portrait of someone she did not know using clay her aunt had given her years before. The experience informed her that her intuition was correct and in fact she was an artist. However, she chose to ignore the idea of pursuing art seriously until her late 30s. She could not afford to go to art school, so she applied for and accepted a job at a bronze casting foundry. It was there that she found a mentor, Paul Moore, who shared his knowledge and skill with her, believed in her, and encouraged her as an artist.