B. Queens, NY, U.S.A.
Currently Located: Lafayette, LA, USA
Currently Located: Lafayette, LA, USA
Kate Gordon’s studio practice focuses on painting in the expanded field, sourcing inspiration from pop-up books, dioramas, and collage. The dream imagery that Gordon mines aims to capture the strangeness of the waking world, which is often not as logical as it might at first appear. Gordon has shown her paintings, collages, and video works nationally; exhibitions include a site-specific installation “Alligator Naps” at the Hilliard Art Museum, curation into the Weatherspoon Art Museum’s “Art on Paper” exhibition, and an invitation to create a public video installation at Block 2, a visual platform for new media artists in Raleigh, NC. Most recent professional accomplishments include participation in Kolaj Institute’s Artist Residency in Scotland, curation into “Is This Too Much?”, a maximalist exhibition at Le Mieux Galleries, and inclusion in the “Louisiana Contemporary” exhibition at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Gordon currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Figure Drawing & Foundations at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She earned an M.F.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a B.F.A. from Pratt Institute.
Artist Statement
Moving to southern Louisiana during a pandemic has pushed me to consider what a survivalist mentality can look like in a geographic location. The plants are trying to survive the heat, the land is trying to survive the erosion, and the people are trying to survive a pandemic. There is no softness or comfort in a survivalist mind, but a forcing together of elements in the hopes that all will be well if you find the right combination quickly. This sensation has entered my studio practice, where I am desperately trying to mine as much imagery as possible and make sense of it as quickly as possible. However, I continually arrive at a stitching together of the everyday and the absurd where very little sense is present.
My collage practice is a means to merge the visual information generated in my subconscious and conscious mind. I think through imagery non-linearly and intuitively. I articulate those images through painting, specifically with watercolor and fluid acrylic, generating imagery in large quantities and with little judgment of the content. Once I have created a volume of paintings, I can cut them apart and draw connections between different mental and physical spaces.
At times, the work physically extends into space, forming a diorama, and at other times, it is stitched together into a singular surface; this decision is instinctual and aligns with the process of the artwork revealing itself over time. Stitching is a means to keep the parts of a piece together, but it also allows them to be separated if necessary. Recently, printed photo components have been added on and behind the painted surfaces, introducing another visual dimension and textural quality to the work, creating a density that resonates with the maximalist world I am observing.
Alongside my thinking through survivalism, becoming a mother has brought the additional concept of contraction into the work. Contraction, as a force and in the context of childbirth, shortens and tightens, creating immense pressure and a form of unavoidable chaos, allowing for both an ending and a beginning within the life cycle. My most recent body of work examines the concept of contraction as it relates to the changes happening in the environment through climate change and how this is reflected through the nature and progression of pregnancy. These themes arrived organically in an outpouring of visual information through the vehicle of painting and were fastened together with a collagist mentality.
My collage practice is a means to merge the visual information generated in my subconscious and conscious mind. I think through imagery non-linearly and intuitively. I articulate those images through painting, specifically with watercolor and fluid acrylic, generating imagery in large quantities and with little judgment of the content. Once I have created a volume of paintings, I can cut them apart and draw connections between different mental and physical spaces.
At times, the work physically extends into space, forming a diorama, and at other times, it is stitched together into a singular surface; this decision is instinctual and aligns with the process of the artwork revealing itself over time. Stitching is a means to keep the parts of a piece together, but it also allows them to be separated if necessary. Recently, printed photo components have been added on and behind the painted surfaces, introducing another visual dimension and textural quality to the work, creating a density that resonates with the maximalist world I am observing.
Alongside my thinking through survivalism, becoming a mother has brought the additional concept of contraction into the work. Contraction, as a force and in the context of childbirth, shortens and tightens, creating immense pressure and a form of unavoidable chaos, allowing for both an ending and a beginning within the life cycle. My most recent body of work examines the concept of contraction as it relates to the changes happening in the environment through climate change and how this is reflected through the nature and progression of pregnancy. These themes arrived organically in an outpouring of visual information through the vehicle of painting and were fastened together with a collagist mentality.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026 (upcoming) Tender Terrain, Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, LA
2025 Crossing the Coulee, Gatewood Gallery, Greensboro, NC
2023 Cheeseburger Apocalypse, Fletcher Gallery, Lafayette, LA
2021 Mind The Gap, East Baton Rouge Public Library, Baton Rouge, LA
2020 Alligator Naps, Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, Lafayette, LA
2019 Juggling Chainsaws, The Carrack, Durham, NC
2019 Impossible Spaces, Public Video Art Installation, Raleigh, NC
2018 Evedrops, 68 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY
2017 Get Out Where, Greensboro Project Space, Greensboro, NC
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Annual National Juried Exhibition, Marshall University, Huntington, WV
2024 Contemporary Realism, SITE: Brooklyn, Online (curated by Jonathon Griffins)
2024 Collage Notes, Escape Canopy, Paris, France
2024 Small Matters, 437CO Gallery, Grand Junction, CO
2024 Louisiana Contemporary, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
2024 Color Burst, Overt Space Gallery, Stoughton, WI
2023 Juried Small Works Exhibition, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT
2023 14th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Drawing, Cooke Gallery, UNCA, Asheville, NC
2022 Watershed Weaver, Dry Ice Gallery, Chattanooga, TN
2022 Is This Too Much?, Le Mieux Galleries, New Orleans, LA
2022 Artist Respond: Post Roe Louisiana, Carroll Gallery, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
2022 La Louisianne, Imperial Calcasieu Museum, Lake Charles, LA
2021 And Now For Something New, Le Mieux Galleries, New Orleans, LA
2021 Twenty Years Marais Press: Imprinting a Campus and Collection, Hilliard Art Museum, Lafayette, LA
2021 Louisiana Contemporary, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
2021 Slammed, Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, LA
2020 Seasonal Repression, Field Projects, New York, NY
2019 Introductions, Fletcher Hall Gallery, Lafayette, LA
2019 Into the Condensed and Not Yet Known, Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, Lafayette, LA
2019 Inside Out, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT
2019 Art on Paper 2019, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2018 Winter Salon, Greenpoint Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2017 MFA Thesis Exhibition, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2016 Not at the Beach, Sharp Studio, Brooklyn, NY
WORKSHOPS, RESIDENCIES, LECTURES
2025 Visiting Artist Lecture, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC
2024 Residency, Kolaj Institute, Sanquhar, Scotland
2022 Gallery Talk, Le Mieux Galleries, New Orleans, LA
2021 Visiting Critic, Basin Arts, Lafayette, LA
2021 Gallery Talk, Ogden Museum, New Orleans, LA
2021 Residency, Mineral House Virtual
2021 Visiting Artist Lecture, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
2020 Panel Presentation, Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, LA
2020 Visiting Artist Lecture, Winthrop University. Rock Hill, SC
2019 Gallery Talk, Hilliard Art Museum. Lafayette, LA
2019 Gallery Talk, Weatherspoon Art Museum. Greensboro, NC
GRANTS/AWARDS
2025 ULL Faculty Travel Research Grant
2024 ULL Faculty Travel Research Grant
2020 Friends of the Humanities Grant
2021 ULL Research Rising Star Award
2019 Elemore Morgan, Jr. Visual Arts Endowment Fund
2019 Friends of the Humanities Grant
2019 UNCG Summer Research Fellowship
2017 UNCG Research Travel Grant
2015 Holderness Fellowship
2015-2017 UNCG Graduate Assistantship Scholarship
2011 Full Circle Award, Summa Cum Laude, Pratt Institute
2007-2011 Presidential Merit Scholarship, Pratt Institute
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2024 “I Like Your Work’s Fall 2024 Catalog”, 2024, Pg.11.
2024 “New Visionary Magazine Fall 2024 Catalog”, 2024, Pg.64-65.
2024 “Louisiana Contemporary”, Ogden Museum Publication, 2024, Pg.17.
2024 “International Directory of Contemporary Collage Artists”, Kolaj Magazine, access date: August 4, 2024.
2023 “Drawing Discourse”, University of North Carolina Asheville, 2023:Pg.122-123.
2022 “20 years of Marais Press: Imprinting a Campus & Collection”, University of Louisiana Press, 2022:Pg.143.
2021 “Alligator Naps”, 2021 Annual Report College of the Arts, 2021: Pg.16.
2021 John R. Kemp, “Artist Profile: Kate Gordon”, Acadiana Profile Magazine, 2021, Pg. 20-21.
2021 “Louisiana Contemporary”, Ogden Museum Publication, 2021, Pg.17.
2021 “Visiting Artist Interview: Kate Gordon”,Mineral House Media, access date: July 1, 2021.
2021 “Alligator Naps”, Oxford American, 2021, Pg. 94.
2021 James Fox-Smith, “Kate Gordon”, Country Roads Magaazine, 2021, Pg. 54.
2020 “Coming Soon”, View Finder Hilliards Art Museum, 2020, Pg.4-5.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2025-pres. Associate Professor, Figure Drawing and Foundations, School of Visual Arts, University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Lafayette, LA
2019-2025 Assistant Professor Figure Drawing and Foundations, Department of Visual Arts, University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Lafayette, LA
2018-2019 Sabbatical Coverage Lecturer, Department of Visual Arts, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Greensboro, NC
2017- 2021 Visiting Lecturer, PreCollege Program, Pratt Institute. Brooklyn, NY
2015-2017 Instructor, Department of Visual Arts, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Greensboro, NC
RELATED EXPERIENCE
2012-2015 Assistant Director of Admissions, Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts. Old Lyme, CT
2011-2012 Gilding Apprentice, Lowy Frame and Restoration Company. New York, NY
2008-2010 Conservation Intern, Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, NY
EDUCATION
2017 MFA, Studio Art, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Greensboro, NC
2011 BFA, Painting, Pratt Institute. Brooklyn, NY
2009 Semester Abroad, Pratt Institute. Venice, Italy
2026 (upcoming) Tender Terrain, Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, LA
2025 Crossing the Coulee, Gatewood Gallery, Greensboro, NC
2023 Cheeseburger Apocalypse, Fletcher Gallery, Lafayette, LA
2021 Mind The Gap, East Baton Rouge Public Library, Baton Rouge, LA
2020 Alligator Naps, Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, Lafayette, LA
2019 Juggling Chainsaws, The Carrack, Durham, NC
2019 Impossible Spaces, Public Video Art Installation, Raleigh, NC
2018 Evedrops, 68 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY
2017 Get Out Where, Greensboro Project Space, Greensboro, NC
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Annual National Juried Exhibition, Marshall University, Huntington, WV
2024 Contemporary Realism, SITE: Brooklyn, Online (curated by Jonathon Griffins)
2024 Collage Notes, Escape Canopy, Paris, France
2024 Small Matters, 437CO Gallery, Grand Junction, CO
2024 Louisiana Contemporary, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
2024 Color Burst, Overt Space Gallery, Stoughton, WI
2023 Juried Small Works Exhibition, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT
2023 14th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Drawing, Cooke Gallery, UNCA, Asheville, NC
2022 Watershed Weaver, Dry Ice Gallery, Chattanooga, TN
2022 Is This Too Much?, Le Mieux Galleries, New Orleans, LA
2022 Artist Respond: Post Roe Louisiana, Carroll Gallery, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
2022 La Louisianne, Imperial Calcasieu Museum, Lake Charles, LA
2021 And Now For Something New, Le Mieux Galleries, New Orleans, LA
2021 Twenty Years Marais Press: Imprinting a Campus and Collection, Hilliard Art Museum, Lafayette, LA
2021 Louisiana Contemporary, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
2021 Slammed, Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, LA
2020 Seasonal Repression, Field Projects, New York, NY
2019 Introductions, Fletcher Hall Gallery, Lafayette, LA
2019 Into the Condensed and Not Yet Known, Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, Lafayette, LA
2019 Inside Out, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT
2019 Art on Paper 2019, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2018 Winter Salon, Greenpoint Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2017 MFA Thesis Exhibition, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2016 Not at the Beach, Sharp Studio, Brooklyn, NY
WORKSHOPS, RESIDENCIES, LECTURES
2025 Visiting Artist Lecture, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC
2024 Residency, Kolaj Institute, Sanquhar, Scotland
2022 Gallery Talk, Le Mieux Galleries, New Orleans, LA
2021 Visiting Critic, Basin Arts, Lafayette, LA
2021 Gallery Talk, Ogden Museum, New Orleans, LA
2021 Residency, Mineral House Virtual
2021 Visiting Artist Lecture, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
2020 Panel Presentation, Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, LA
2020 Visiting Artist Lecture, Winthrop University. Rock Hill, SC
2019 Gallery Talk, Hilliard Art Museum. Lafayette, LA
2019 Gallery Talk, Weatherspoon Art Museum. Greensboro, NC
GRANTS/AWARDS
2025 ULL Faculty Travel Research Grant
2024 ULL Faculty Travel Research Grant
2020 Friends of the Humanities Grant
2021 ULL Research Rising Star Award
2019 Elemore Morgan, Jr. Visual Arts Endowment Fund
2019 Friends of the Humanities Grant
2019 UNCG Summer Research Fellowship
2017 UNCG Research Travel Grant
2015 Holderness Fellowship
2015-2017 UNCG Graduate Assistantship Scholarship
2011 Full Circle Award, Summa Cum Laude, Pratt Institute
2007-2011 Presidential Merit Scholarship, Pratt Institute
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2024 “I Like Your Work’s Fall 2024 Catalog”, 2024, Pg.11.
2024 “New Visionary Magazine Fall 2024 Catalog”, 2024, Pg.64-65.
2024 “Louisiana Contemporary”, Ogden Museum Publication, 2024, Pg.17.
2024 “International Directory of Contemporary Collage Artists”, Kolaj Magazine, access date: August 4, 2024.
2023 “Drawing Discourse”, University of North Carolina Asheville, 2023:Pg.122-123.
2022 “20 years of Marais Press: Imprinting a Campus & Collection”, University of Louisiana Press, 2022:Pg.143.
2021 “Alligator Naps”, 2021 Annual Report College of the Arts, 2021: Pg.16.
2021 John R. Kemp, “Artist Profile: Kate Gordon”, Acadiana Profile Magazine, 2021, Pg. 20-21.
2021 “Louisiana Contemporary”, Ogden Museum Publication, 2021, Pg.17.
2021 “Visiting Artist Interview: Kate Gordon”,Mineral House Media, access date: July 1, 2021.
2021 “Alligator Naps”, Oxford American, 2021, Pg. 94.
2021 James Fox-Smith, “Kate Gordon”, Country Roads Magaazine, 2021, Pg. 54.
2020 “Coming Soon”, View Finder Hilliards Art Museum, 2020, Pg.4-5.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2025-pres. Associate Professor, Figure Drawing and Foundations, School of Visual Arts, University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Lafayette, LA
2019-2025 Assistant Professor Figure Drawing and Foundations, Department of Visual Arts, University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Lafayette, LA
2018-2019 Sabbatical Coverage Lecturer, Department of Visual Arts, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Greensboro, NC
2017- 2021 Visiting Lecturer, PreCollege Program, Pratt Institute. Brooklyn, NY
2015-2017 Instructor, Department of Visual Arts, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Greensboro, NC
RELATED EXPERIENCE
2012-2015 Assistant Director of Admissions, Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts. Old Lyme, CT
2011-2012 Gilding Apprentice, Lowy Frame and Restoration Company. New York, NY
2008-2010 Conservation Intern, Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, NY
EDUCATION
2017 MFA, Studio Art, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Greensboro, NC
2011 BFA, Painting, Pratt Institute. Brooklyn, NY
2009 Semester Abroad, Pratt Institute. Venice, Italy