All that’s left of a bizarre childhood.” That is the self-proclaimed statement that hangs above the door of Design Institute instructor, Kate Palese’s home office. “My mom was an agoraphobic. She had a fear of open spaces. It was interesting to live around and it was what started my interest in weird environments.” With both a bachelors and masters degree in sculpture, Kate took a special interest in creating objects and space that were slightly frightening, and now she mainly does oil pastels of those environments.

Kate teaches the Elements of Design I class at DI and really enjoys how different the job is every day. “You get to adapt to the students. I particularly like DI because the students are really motivated. There isn’t anybody just slacking.” But that doesn’t mean the job is easy. As fun and approachable as she is, Kate is also “appallingly honest.” She is endlessly encouraging of the students but doesn’t like to sugar coat anything. “I think it’s really important that they not be led astray. It’s not helpful to them. The students know I’m not [being honest] to be a jerk, it’s because I really care about them and sometimes it’s not good enough and I know they can do better. That’s part of being a good teacher.”

Kate was never confused about what she wanted to do: “Art was the only thing I was ever really good at. That and writing. But writing is too much of an alone thing and I’m an extrovert.” Her personal influences in art came not only from her mother’s struggle with agoraphobia but from the Mexican imports she had all over the house. “I love Mexican imagery. I didn’t realize that you could be white and make art until about the age of 10!” Kate is particularly drawn to the colors in Mexican art: “the Tapa Boca candles, the Chango, and Our Lady of Guadalupe.” Despite her attraction to bright colors, Kate’s work is most often about “being devastated and destroyed, and a little bit about rebirth.”
One of her latest projects was for an exhibition at the Shoshana Wayne Gallery in LA. It was organized to be the largest art exhibit ever in one place. The show organically came together starting with four artists who picked four other artists and it continued from there which resulted in everything from fine art to kitschy art. “It looked like an art swap meet!” The show was a huge success with hundreds of attendees, many celebrities and other high profile guests. The piece Kate designed was about the biology of relationships. “When you first are in love it feels like everything is perfect because of your endorphins, and then little by little they fade away.” Kate’s piece was made of wood, graphite and lamp conduit. It had words that would flash randomly like synapses. Having very little knowledge about electricity, Kate called upon DI student Mark Maffei to assist and it was his knowledge and skills that helped bring the project to life. She could not have been more pleased. “It [was] perfect.”

When asked how she’s been able to create so many different types of pieces using so many different media (she has been known to utilize strange smells to enhance the experience of her work), she simply stated, “Perseverance. It’s just a matter of getting in the studio. This summer I only taught some night classes so I would just go to my studio and sit there.” She paused, then looked up grinning and bluntly stated, “Eventually something would happen because you can only be so bored.”
Kate doesn’t take for granted being able to do what she loves day in and day out. “I’m super lucky. It’s a cool way to make a living. I always think that if I won the lottery I would still probably teach because it’s just so fun.”