Icarus and Friends
Showing until March 31, 2023
Kate Dodd creates both temporary and permanent site-specific installations, and has exhibited her artwork nationally in museums, galleries, and colleges. Her works celebrate the transformation of materials and the hidden patterns of human habits.
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MEET THE ARTIST
Kate Dodd
Kate Dodd received her B.F.A. from Pratt Institute in 1983, and her M.F.A. from Columbia University in 1990, and currently lives in New Jersey, with bicoastal stints in the Bay Area, where she is originally from. She has exhibited her artwork nationally in museums, galleries, and colleges, and has been teaching art in public and private schools for 30 years. Kate was awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship grant in 2020 from the New Jersey Council on the Arts, and has been awarded residencies at MacDowell, Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Papermaking, the Connemara Conservancy, Cummington Community for the Arts, the Vermont Studio School and numerous schools in the tri-state area. In addition to site-specific installations, Kate has commissioned works at five NJ Transit stations, and has created three commissions for Summit Public Arts. She completed a site-specific commission for the Redwood City Public Library Children’s Room in 2021. The projects she has completed have given her a wide range of experience working with architects, engineers, lighting designers, contractors, specialty artisans, politicians, city administrators, inspectors and other officials, and the media. Her work spans an array of budgets, materials, and scale. Kate finds it deeply gratifying to create public art because it always requires working with people who are committed to community building. While Kate’s permanent installations use metal, glass, concrete, and porcelain enamel, her temporary installations investigate the possibilities of building with single use waste, such as bottles, cans, and even books. Her works celebrate the transformation of materials and the hidden patterns of human habits.
To view more of her work, head to: www.katedodd.com
ARTIST STATEMENT
“Icarus and Friends” are artworks, mostly paper constructions, from a series called “Outer Wear” that I have been working on since just before the pandemic began. The pieces in this series are meant as imaginary, and futile, protective gear, protection from both the mistakes of the past and the revenge of the future. They evolved out of a love for the imagery content and printing techniques in outdated reference materials. But while the visual quality of these materials is romantic, even nostalgic, the content is often dated, projecting a celebration of humanity’s ability to exploit nature and each other at a time when that no longer makes sense.
-- Kate Dodd