Hilary Harkness was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1971 and currently lives in New York City. Harkness received a B.A. from University California, Berkeley and an MFA from Yale University. She has had solo exhibitions at the Mary Boone Gallery in 2005 and 2008. She has also exhibited at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Harkness has had articles in Esquire and Art in America.