Meet Massachusetts-based Artist Kara Patrowicz
KARA PATROWICZ is a Maynard, Mass.-based visual artist, specializing in fibers, painting, and drawing.
(www.karapatrowicz.com | kara.e.patrowicz@gmail.com)
CATHOLIC ARTIST CONNECTION (CAC): Where are you from originally, and what brought you to Maynard?
KARA PATROWICZ (KP): I was born in Brooklyn and grew up on Long Island. I went to Boston University and later returned to Boston to complete my Master of Fine Arts at MassArt. I stuck around to work, met my husband several years later and now live in Maynard, MA, in prime apple orchard territory. Overall I’ve been in the Boston/Cambridge/Somerville area about 15 years — I love the manageable scale of the city, full of universities and academic types.
CAC: How do understand your vocation as a Catholic artist?
KP: My understanding of this vocation was strongly influenced by JPII’s “Letter to Artists,” and I still feel that he summarized it best as a search for “new epiphanies of beauty.” I love this reminder to seek fresh expressions of authentic beauty in the world, knowing that it is all an overflowing of grace from the Lord. When I use the term “beauty” I mean it in the fullest sense of the word, as an experience that can be both transcendent and deeply inward, pleasurable and painful, overwhelming and subtle, not simply a fleeting feeling of satisfaction.
I regard myself as a Catholic and an Artist but don’t often introduce myself as a “Catholic Artist.” Perhaps this is due to trepidation about how this label can be misinterpreted. But it’s also because I see these two parts of my life as naturally interwoven. My faith and my artistic calling grow out of each other. To be creative and develop my talents to their fullest potential is to be truly Catholic. To be religious and interested in the spiritual nature of things is intrinsically Artistic.
Lately I keep thinking about Flannery O’Connor. I really admire how her work bridges both “spiritual“ and “secular” realms. She was both devoutly pious but not afraid to engage with modern writing innovations and her resulting work spoke to both worlds in truly unique ways. I think this opened up overlooked (or even avoided) avenues for dialogue in the contemporary cultural sectors of her day. The scope and impact of my work is smaller, but I hope that it contributes similarly to this mission in my local communities.
CAC: Where have you found support in the Church for your vocation as an artist?
KP: The main support I’ve received has been encouragement from spiritual directors, friends in the young adult community, a wide range of priests, religious and laity. Many devout Catholics are interested in the arts and see it as a part of their spiritual heritage, and want to see these connections renewed. I’ve also particularly enjoyed following the development of groups like Catholic Creatives.
CAC: Where have you found support among your fellow artists for your Catholic faith?
KP: I know a handful of fellow Catholic artists but most of the artists I know aren’t Catholic. When my faith has come up, more often than not, they are intrigued. This was especially true during my time in art school. Over the years I had some professors and classmates who wanted to discuss and debate topics of faith and the Church which was unexpected and refreshing. I find that if my tone and demeanor make it clear that I want to have a conversation rather than a fight, it helps things enormously.
CAC: How can the Church be more welcoming to artists?
KP: I think it would help if the Church had more art-related initiatives and truly engaged with young, contemporary artists. From a visual arts perspective, it would be wonderful to see more artist residencies based at Catholic churches (I actually tried to start one of these but didn’t get sufficient support), exhibits of contemporary work that engages the Catholic faith in a variety of forms, more vibrant art departments at Catholic universities, etc. I know this takes money and manpower that may be hard to come by. But I feel like I’ve seen glimmerings in some of the Catholic arts groups that I follow.
I also think that the Church could be even more welcoming of a wider range of art styles and approaches. Artwork and objects used in a liturgical context certainly need to follow essential norms. But “Catholic Art” isn’t restricted to liturgical art. Artwork created by Catholics can explore a huge variety of subjects, media and processes. Sometimes it feels like “Catholic Art” is expected to look a certain way, such as neo-Renaissance copies of Raphael or the sort of pseudo-modernist stained glass in many American churches. It’s good to remember that Catholic Art can have many manifestations, from traditional icon painting and folk crafts to abstract painting and video art.
CAC: Where in Maynard do you find spiritual fulfillment?
KP: I moved to Maynard about a year ago and am still getting to know local Catholic communities. My husband, our newborn son Paulie and I attend Mass at St. John the Guardian of Our Lady in Clinton, MA. It’s a beautiful Church (we were married there too!) with wonderful, reverent music and great preaching.
CAC: What is your daily spiritual practice?
KP: I pray daily with the Mass readings and reflections from the Blessed is She newsletter, and my husband and I say a prayer together every evening before bed. I also have a personal prayer that I wrote to say each time I work in the studio. I had a spiritual director in Boston until moving recently, a priest who was a campus minister at my college who I reconnected with. I still email him and another prior spiritual director from time to time for guidance and it’s a big help!
CAC: What is your daily artistic practice?
KP: To be honest, I don’t often work daily (especially since I have a newborn baby right now). Even without a newborn, I typically worked other jobs and used my days off to work in the studio. I find I work best in this manner, rather than a short spurt once a day. Since my artwork tends to be labor intensive it is hard to have a sense of progress after working for only an hour or so; it’s much better to work for a longer stretch. I also find it really challenging to get into the right mediative, attentive mindset that my work requires if it’s only for a short period of time.
With my newborn I am cramming in bits of work where I can and finding babysitting so that I can work for longer stretches. I primarily use short bursts of time for tasks like applying to exhibits, updating my website, etc. I’m also figuring out how I can adapt my artwork to fit my new lifestyle – as much as I enjoy meditative, labor intensive embroidery, I may need to work with materials and methods that are quicker and come to a resolution more easily.
My main advice is to find what brings about your strongest work. For some it’s working a little bit everyday, for others it’s consolidating time to work for longer stretches, or a mix of both (or something else entirely).
CAC: How do you afford housing as an artist?
KP: My husband is thankfully very supportive of my work and is our main source of income. Until we married I lived in a million different apartments around Boston, all of which were cheap for the area and had multiple roommates. I found them all through local Catholic communities.
CAC: How do you financially support yourself as an artist?
KP: Right now I’m a newly full-time mom, but before I worked a variety of different job situations. I’ve worked as an adjunct professor, museum desk receptionist, nanny, administrative assistant, part-time, full-time, multiple jobs at once, etc. I did a lot of job hunting through Hireculture.com and other sites, and also word-of-mouth. Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Artsake blog has been a big resource for exhibits and residencies, along with too many other sites to name. Right now I’m focusing on how to make more money from my work directly through building momentum on social media, experimenting with pricing models and selling prints and cards of my work.
CAC: What are your top 3 pieces of advice for Catholic artists post-graduation?
KP: Seriously prioritize creating a financially sustainable living (take classes in entrepreneurship, be rigorous about budgeting, etc.). Maintain strong connections with the artistic and spiritual networks you’ve formed, even when time is tight and energy is low. And required reading: Jacques Maritain’s “Art and Scholasticism,” Thomas Merton’s “New Seeds of Contemplation,” and Flannery O’Connor’s letters to “A” (compiled in “The Habit of Being”).
