Mary Calarco is a Canadian artist who creates abstract artwork and functional accessories using natural dyes and cotton. Her fibre-based pieces explore fragility, memory and materiality. Reclaimed cotton yardage is hand-dyed, dismantled and rebuilt on stretcher frames, while raw edges and visible seams open the door to conversations about impermanence. In contrast, her tea towels, dinner napkins, scarves, and aprons act as lively odes to domestic ritual. 

The reoccurring polka dot theme found throughout her work is both nostalgic and disarming. These circles, cycles and rounds were introduced as a response to her husband's ongoing chemotherapy treatments and the medical vernacular surrounding them. As our bodies slowly reveal the wear and tear of life, we rush to see what can be salvaged or put back together. 

Calarco has participated in group shows with Dying.Series, DesignTO, Propeller Art Gallery (Toronto), Gather in the County (Picton), Art on the Street (Guelph) and N/A Gallery (Guelph). She works out of her studio at Boarding House Arts in downtown Guelph.