hodgson earned a b.a. in liberal studies at oberlin college and an m.a. in anthropology at new york university. her background in anthropology was highly influential because it seemed to better address the relationship between art and culture than more traditional academic art curricula. hodgson was fascinated by the impermanent materials used to create artifacts in pre-literate societies, and by how much care went into the creation of such ephemeral art objects. she is similarly unconcerned with the impermanence of many of her works; they are intended to weather and rot, and remind the viewer of the brevity of life.