Juxtapoz Art and Culture-Spring_2019

14 SPRING 2019

STUDIO TIME

Kate Klingbeil

Juxtapoz Projects, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City

I recently moved my studio from Brooklyn

to Jersey City for a three-month residency with

Juxtapoz Projects at Mana Contemporary. There’s

a lot to see and process while driving through

Manhattan from Brooklyn. You have to go over a

bridge, down buzzing Canal Street in Chinatown,

and brave the long Holland Tunnel through to the

other side. New Jersey is so close, yet it feels slightly

removed from the chaotic and encompassing

energy of NYC.

I brought only the necessities to this new space:

paintings I’m currently working on, some books

for reference, and a brick that says “good luck.”

All of my previous studios have been packed with

items and visual stimuli that have, up until now,

influenced how I work. In previous iterations,

my studio was covered with dozens of my own

paintings and ceramics, as well as tchotchkes and

works I’ve collected from friends... but this time,

I’m trying to keep it minimal.

I’m finding it’s easier to conjure fresh ideas

without looking at everything I’ve ever made.

Each time I move, I shed layers from my past that

I don't want to bring into the future. This space

has allowed me to spread out and work more

freely. I hadn’t realized it before, but being able to

physically step back fifteen feet from a painting

without worrying about knocking something

over has helped me tremendously. It allows me

to understand the painting and what’s working

or what’s not. Emerging from my studio inside

this grand former tobacco factory with its brick

facade and smokestacks, freight trains rolling by

on the track, and Little India a couple blocks away,

I feel lucky to have a space of my own for the next

few months. Artists need space that we can make

sacred so ideas can materialize. I make a mess

every day and clean it up before I leave so I can

start fresh the next morning. —Kate Klingbeil

Kate Klingbeil is participating in the newly established

Juxtapoz Projects residency program at Mana

Contemporary in Jersey City. She is working alongside

sculptor Megan Cavanaugh and will debut a two-

person exhibition in April 2019 at the Juxtapoz

Projects Gallery.

Above: Photo by Jessica Ross