Jane Dodd began making jewellery in her 30s, studying at what is now Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland and later joining renowned jewellery studio Workshop 6.  

In 2009 she returned to her hometown of Dunedin where she works from her home studio.  

Concerns for the natural world, and the relationship of humans to it, are paramount in the conceptual background to Dodd’s work.  

I want to look at issues of extinction and infestation, cruelty and conflict: issues that arise at every branch of our Family Tree, affecting coral, ants, magpies, elephants. I want to challenge our ideas of animal intelligence, and exalt different sensory strengths and acumen.

I want to berate us for thinking we are above or distinct from the natural world. I want us to feel that we are being watched and that stock is being taken. I want us not to get away with it.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Jane Dodd

In 2017 Dodd was selected to represent New Zealand at the prestigious Schmuck international contemporary jewellery exhibition in Munich, Germany.

In 2021 the Dowse Art Museum staged a major survey exhibition of Dodd’s work: Wild Domain: The Natural History of Jane Dodd Jewellery.

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