“I want my fiber paintings to embody the ordinary, tender, invisible ways that the labor of caregiving can shape the world around us.”
—Kara Patrowicz
Kara Patrowicz creates depictions of family, motherhood, and everyday life in tapestries and felted work. In this solo exhibition of her work, Patrowicz explores “the intersection of ritual and play, of monotony and delight in fundamental human relationships.” With nearly 30 works from the past six years and eight brand new works created for the exhibition, the installation features figurative scenes that explore rhythms of caregiving within the early years of parenting.
Trained in oil painting, Patrowicz takes a painterly approach to felting—a technique that blends fibers, typically sheep’s wool, into dense fabric or three-dimensional forms. In recent years, Patrowicz has expanded her practice by incorporating found materials such as crib sheets, dryer lint, and locks of hair. “Acts of care are often only discernible in the traces they leave. In repurposing my own ‘domestic detritus,’ I seek to honor the states of exhaustion, vulnerability, and yearning that can accompany mothering.” Some felted works are created, in part, in the artist’s washing machine; made among her family’s laundry, these objects acknowledge the invisible labor of parenthood and link it to the labor and creativity of the artmaking process.
Patrowicz is the winner of the Sally Bishop Prize, the top honor at the 2025 ArtsWorcester Biennial. In addition to a cash prize, the winner of this award receives a solo exhibition at the Worcester Art Museum. Since 2017, this partnership between the Worcester Art Museum and ArtsWorcester has provided winning artists with important museum credentials, while placing their work in conversation with world-renowned artists in the Museum’s collection.
More about the artist
Patrowicz has exhibited throughout the U.S. and abroad, including the U.S. Embassy in Geneva, Switzerland. She has had solo exhibitions at the Chester Beatty Library (Dublin, Ireland), Fruitlands Museum (Harvard, MA), and ArtsWorcester. She was awarded a Fulbright Grant and was a Finalist in Crafts for the Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowships Program. She received an MFA in 2-D media from MassArt, a Post-Baccalaureate in Studio Art from Brandeis University, and a BFA in painting from Boston University. Patrowicz lives and works in Maynard, MA with her husband and three young children.
This exhibition is organized in partnership with ArtsWorcester. It is funded in part by the Hoche-Scofield Foundation and WAM Exhibition Fund.
Stay connected! Sign up for the Worcester Art Museum’s email newsletter.
