Cliff Notes
Each week, our regional Cliff Notes columnists Hayashi Wilder, Emily Small, Jade Ichimura, and Renée Reizman pick the most exciting events and exhibitions on the West Coast.
Aisha Harrison: Porous Body
Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island, WA
Nov 22, 2025–Feb 22, 2026
We come from the dirt, and when we die, we will return to the dirt. This is the mantra for all things living on this planet. In Porous Body, at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Aisha Harrison explores natural life cycles through clay, bronze, and mixed media. Harrison considers both the physical and non-physical spaces that people interact with during their lives. Born and raised in Olympia, Washington, the artist references her connections to the Washington landscape and wildlife that she grew up alongside by literally incorporating local plant matter and soil into her sculptures.
Her works represent both her personal experiences and the experiences of others. As a queer mixed-race person, Harrison’s work is imbued with lived experience and the complex history of her identity. However, she also urges the viewers of all backgrounds to find personal connections to her work and all living things. After all, everybody has their own “porous body,” which absorbs the myriad of experiences and emotions, each the same and unique from one individual to another.
Reflection: What identities do you hold that have both personalized your experiences and connected you to others?
Kim Smith Claudel: End Cycle
The Vestibule, Seattle, WA
October 25–Dec 6, 2025
Parenthood is a personal choice. At some point in every uterus owner’s life, one must consider the complex decision of having a child. Whether the possibility of parenthood appeals to you or not, the decision looms in the background from puberty until menopause. In End Cycle, shown at the Vestibule in Seattle, WA, Kim Smith Claudel confronts the ever-present reminder that our bodies can produce children, and sometimes will, given the opportunity.
One of her works, Kronos (2021), is a representation of the average number of viable reproductive days in a person with a uterus’ lifetime: 10,861 days. Kronos is an installation that features various small objects on a black flat board, mounted atop cement blocks. Claudel arranged the small objects—petals, stones, paper, pearls, and brass—in waves that represent the flowing of emotions and considerations we are faced with. As a taboo, yet normal part of life, Claudel offers a look into her own personal experiences with contemplating the existential question of parenthood.
Reflection: At which stages of your life have you considered becoming a parent or not? How have your experiences influenced your personal perspective throughout time?