Kate Dodd: MVA Open Studios


Adjusting “Sky Cache” on the Jersey City waterfront

Manufacturers Village Artist Studios, located in an 1880’s historic industrial complex at 356 Glenwood Avenue in East Orange, NJ, will feature the work of over 60 different artists at its annual open studios weekend, Friday 10/15 (VIP Preview) and Saturday thru Sunday from 11-5, 10/16 and 10/17.

Kate Dodd received her B.F.A. from Pratt Institute in 1983, and her M.F.A. from Columbia University in 1990, and lives in New Jersey, with bicoastal stints in the Bay Area, where she is originally from. She creates site-specific installations that have been exhibited nationally in museums, galleries, and colleges. She was awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship in 2020 from the New Jersey Council on the Arts, and has been awarded multiple residencies, including MacDowell. Kate has large scale works commissioned by NJ Transit in Bayonne, Newark, South Amboy, and Hoboken. She is working on a commission for a library in California, and has several outdoor installations currently on view in New Jersey, including Exchange Place in Jersey City, Ringwood State Park, and the Parkline in Summit.

Tell me about yourself and your art.

My work divides into two main categories; site-specific installations and works on/of paper. My installations, both temporary and permanent, indoors and out, have a sense of naturally growing out of their surroundings in both form and content, built out of multiple, often repurposed, components to incorporate large spaces while commenting on environmental issues. My works on paper also use numerous small motifs to build larger imagery. Ranging from watercolors to wall hangings, often made of repurposed envelopes and books, these pieces reflect on systems of construction, consumption, and destruction.


“Questionable Value”, 2020, 72” x 40”, repurposed dictionary and gold paint

What will we see in your studio?

I often work in series, so a range of drawings from both my Privacy Series, using envelope windows in collage to reflect on barriers vs access, and my Bottle Series, which focus on single use plastic waste, will be on display, as well as other watercolors and cut paper constructions. I will be showing a slide presentation of all my recent installations as well.


“Ward”, from the Bottle Series, 2020, 22” x 12”, watercolor and graphite

“Shattered Glass” from the Privacy Series, 2020, 22” x 12”, repurposed envelopes and paper