Kara Patrowicz lives and works in Maynard, MA with her husband and two young children. She has exhibited throughout the U.S. and abroad, including the U.S. Embassy in Geneva, Switzerland, and a solo show at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA in the Wayside Gallery. She has been a Fulbright Grant recipient in Painting to Ireland, and a Finalist in Crafts for the Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowships Program. She has taught art courses at the university level and served as an Artist-in-Residence at Boston Children’s Hospital. Her academic achievements include an M.F.A. (2-D Media) from MassArt, a Post-Baccalaureate (Studio Art) from Brandeis University, and a B.F.A. (Painting) from Boston University.
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Parallel Play (def.): A stage of development where toddlers play side-by-side, before learning to engage in interactive activities with other children.
My son was 6 months old when the pandemic began, and my daughter was born two years later at the height of social distancing. The concept of parallel play resonates with my experience as an isolated “pandemic parent,” and also describes my life as an artist-mother of two young children. I am often observing and inspired by the explorative, sensory-based play of my children— in tandem and in tension with my own creative practice.
Wool felting has become my primary medium, after years of studying painting and mixed-media. It is the oldest form of textile production and has surprising links to motherhood. Ewes are sheared in the spring right before giving birth, and lanolin, an ointment used by nursing women, comes exclusively from sheep’s wool. I also incorporate domestic detritus such as dryer lint, hair clippings, and clothing scraps. Some pieces are felted in my washing machine, to acknowledge the “invisible” labor that accompanies my role as homemaker, and “make seen” the efforts of parents who are primary caregivers to young children.
I want to treat mothering as a serious subject for art-making, and expand the maternal lens beyond its carefully curated forms found on social media. Messy playpens, laundry mountains, and crawling babies fill my work. Through these everyday subjects and materials, my work hints at the intersection of ritual, play, monotony, and delight in fundamental human relationships.
